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Uses and misuses of the case study method

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What the Case Study Method Really Teaches

• Nitin Nohria

Seven meta-skills that stick even if the cases fade from memory.

It’s been 100 years since Harvard Business School began using the case study method. Beyond teaching specific subject matter, the case study method excels in instilling meta-skills in students. This article explains the importance of seven such skills: preparation, discernment, bias recognition, judgement, collaboration, curiosity, and self-confidence.

During my decade as dean of Harvard Business School, I spent hundreds of hours talking with our alumni. To enliven these conversations, I relied on a favorite question: “What was the most important thing you learned from your time in our MBA program?”

• Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. Professor at Harvard Business School and the former dean of HBS.

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• Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods

Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on 5 May 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 30 January 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organisation, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating, and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyse the case.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

Unlike quantitative or experimental research, a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

If you find yourself aiming to simultaneously investigate and solve an issue, consider conducting action research . As its name suggests, action research conducts research and takes action at the same time, and is highly iterative and flexible. 

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience, or phenomenon.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews, observations, and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data .

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis, with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results , and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyse its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

Cite this Scribbr article

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McCombes, S. (2023, January 30). Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods. Scribbr. Retrieved 15 April 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/case-studies/

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What is the Case Study Method?

Overview Dropdown up

Overview dropdown down, celebrating 100 years of the case method at hbs.

The 2021-2022 academic year marks the 100-year anniversary of the introduction of the case method at Harvard Business School. Today, the HBS case method is employed in the HBS MBA program, in Executive Education programs, and in dozens of other business schools around the world. As Dean Srikant Datar's says, the case method has withstood the test of time.

Case Discussion Preparation Details Expand All Collapse All

In self-reflection in self-reflection dropdown down, in a small group setting in a small group setting dropdown down, in the classroom in the classroom dropdown down, beyond the classroom beyond the classroom dropdown down, how the case method creates value dropdown up, how the case method creates value dropdown down, in self-reflection, in a small group setting, in the classroom, beyond the classroom.

How Cases Unfold In the Classroom

How cases unfold in the classroom dropdown up, how cases unfold in the classroom dropdown down, preparation guidelines expand all collapse all, read the professor's assignment or discussion questions read the professor's assignment or discussion questions dropdown down, read the first few paragraphs and then skim the case read the first few paragraphs and then skim the case dropdown down, reread the case, underline text, and make margin notes reread the case, underline text, and make margin notes dropdown down, note the key problems on a pad of paper and go through the case again note the key problems on a pad of paper and go through the case again dropdown down, how to prepare for case discussions dropdown up, how to prepare for case discussions dropdown down, read the professor's assignment or discussion questions, read the first few paragraphs and then skim the case, reread the case, underline text, and make margin notes, note the key problems on a pad of paper and go through the case again, case study best practices expand all collapse all, prepare prepare dropdown down, discuss discuss dropdown down, participate participate dropdown down, relate relate dropdown down, apply apply dropdown down, note note dropdown down, understand understand dropdown down, case study best practices dropdown up, case study best practices dropdown down, participate, what can i expect on the first day dropdown down.

Most programs begin with registration, followed by an opening session and a dinner. If your travel plans necessitate late arrival, please be sure to notify us so that alternate registration arrangements can be made for you. Please note the following about registration:

HBS campus programs – Registration takes place in the Chao Center.

India programs – Registration takes place outside the classroom.

Other off-campus programs – Registration takes place in the designated facility.

What happens in class if nobody talks? Dropdown down

Professors are here to push everyone to learn, but not to embarrass anyone. If the class is quiet, they'll often ask a participant with experience in the industry in which the case is set to speak first. This is done well in advance so that person can come to class prepared to share. Trust the process. The more open you are, the more willing you’ll be to engage, and the more alive the classroom will become.

Does everyone take part in "role-playing"? Dropdown down

Professors often encourage participants to take opposing sides and then debate the issues, often taking the perspective of the case protagonists or key decision makers in the case.

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Home » Case Study – Methods, Examples and Guide

Case Study – Methods, Examples and Guide

Table of Contents

A case study is a research method that involves an in-depth examination and analysis of a particular phenomenon or case, such as an individual, organization, community, event, or situation.

It is a qualitative research approach that aims to provide a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the case being studied. Case studies typically involve multiple sources of data, including interviews, observations, documents, and artifacts, which are analyzed using various techniques, such as content analysis, thematic analysis, and grounded theory. The findings of a case study are often used to develop theories, inform policy or practice, or generate new research questions.

Types of Case Study

Types and Methods of Case Study are as follows:

Single-Case Study

A single-case study is an in-depth analysis of a single case. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to understand a specific phenomenon in detail.

For Example , A researcher might conduct a single-case study on a particular individual to understand their experiences with a particular health condition or a specific organization to explore their management practices. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as content analysis or thematic analysis. The findings of a single-case study are often used to generate new research questions, develop theories, or inform policy or practice.

Multiple-Case Study

A multiple-case study involves the analysis of several cases that are similar in nature. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to identify similarities and differences between the cases.

For Example, a researcher might conduct a multiple-case study on several companies to explore the factors that contribute to their success or failure. The researcher collects data from each case, compares and contrasts the findings, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as comparative analysis or pattern-matching. The findings of a multiple-case study can be used to develop theories, inform policy or practice, or generate new research questions.

Exploratory Case Study

An exploratory case study is used to explore a new or understudied phenomenon. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to generate hypotheses or theories about the phenomenon.

For Example, a researcher might conduct an exploratory case study on a new technology to understand its potential impact on society. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as grounded theory or content analysis. The findings of an exploratory case study can be used to generate new research questions, develop theories, or inform policy or practice.

Descriptive Case Study

A descriptive case study is used to describe a particular phenomenon in detail. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to provide a comprehensive account of the phenomenon.

For Example, a researcher might conduct a descriptive case study on a particular community to understand its social and economic characteristics. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as content analysis or thematic analysis. The findings of a descriptive case study can be used to inform policy or practice or generate new research questions.

Instrumental Case Study

An instrumental case study is used to understand a particular phenomenon that is instrumental in achieving a particular goal. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to understand the role of the phenomenon in achieving the goal.

For Example, a researcher might conduct an instrumental case study on a particular policy to understand its impact on achieving a particular goal, such as reducing poverty. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as content analysis or thematic analysis. The findings of an instrumental case study can be used to inform policy or practice or generate new research questions.

Case Study Data Collection Methods

Here are some common data collection methods for case studies:

Interviews involve asking questions to individuals who have knowledge or experience relevant to the case study. Interviews can be structured (where the same questions are asked to all participants) or unstructured (where the interviewer follows up on the responses with further questions). Interviews can be conducted in person, over the phone, or through video conferencing.

Observations

Observations involve watching and recording the behavior and activities of individuals or groups relevant to the case study. Observations can be participant (where the researcher actively participates in the activities) or non-participant (where the researcher observes from a distance). Observations can be recorded using notes, audio or video recordings, or photographs.

Documents can be used as a source of information for case studies. Documents can include reports, memos, emails, letters, and other written materials related to the case study. Documents can be collected from the case study participants or from public sources.

Surveys involve asking a set of questions to a sample of individuals relevant to the case study. Surveys can be administered in person, over the phone, through mail or email, or online. Surveys can be used to gather information on attitudes, opinions, or behaviors related to the case study.

Artifacts are physical objects relevant to the case study. Artifacts can include tools, equipment, products, or other objects that provide insights into the case study phenomenon.

How to conduct Case Study Research

Conducting a case study research involves several steps that need to be followed to ensure the quality and rigor of the study. Here are the steps to conduct case study research:

• Define the research questions: The first step in conducting a case study research is to define the research questions. The research questions should be specific, measurable, and relevant to the case study phenomenon under investigation.
• Select the case: The next step is to select the case or cases to be studied. The case should be relevant to the research questions and should provide rich and diverse data that can be used to answer the research questions.
• Collect data: Data can be collected using various methods, such as interviews, observations, documents, surveys, and artifacts. The data collection method should be selected based on the research questions and the nature of the case study phenomenon.
• Analyze the data: The data collected from the case study should be analyzed using various techniques, such as content analysis, thematic analysis, or grounded theory. The analysis should be guided by the research questions and should aim to provide insights and conclusions relevant to the research questions.
• Draw conclusions: The conclusions drawn from the case study should be based on the data analysis and should be relevant to the research questions. The conclusions should be supported by evidence and should be clearly stated.
• Validate the findings: The findings of the case study should be validated by reviewing the data and the analysis with participants or other experts in the field. This helps to ensure the validity and reliability of the findings.
• Write the report: The final step is to write the report of the case study research. The report should provide a clear description of the case study phenomenon, the research questions, the data collection methods, the data analysis, the findings, and the conclusions. The report should be written in a clear and concise manner and should follow the guidelines for academic writing.

Examples of Case Study

Here are some examples of case study research:

• The Hawthorne Studies : Conducted between 1924 and 1932, the Hawthorne Studies were a series of case studies conducted by Elton Mayo and his colleagues to examine the impact of work environment on employee productivity. The studies were conducted at the Hawthorne Works plant of the Western Electric Company in Chicago and included interviews, observations, and experiments.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment: Conducted in 1971, the Stanford Prison Experiment was a case study conducted by Philip Zimbardo to examine the psychological effects of power and authority. The study involved simulating a prison environment and assigning participants to the role of guards or prisoners. The study was controversial due to the ethical issues it raised.
• The Challenger Disaster: The Challenger Disaster was a case study conducted to examine the causes of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986. The study included interviews, observations, and analysis of data to identify the technical, organizational, and cultural factors that contributed to the disaster.
• The Enron Scandal: The Enron Scandal was a case study conducted to examine the causes of the Enron Corporation’s bankruptcy in 2001. The study included interviews, analysis of financial data, and review of documents to identify the accounting practices, corporate culture, and ethical issues that led to the company’s downfall.
• The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster : The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster was a case study conducted to examine the causes of the nuclear accident that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan in 2011. The study included interviews, analysis of data, and review of documents to identify the technical, organizational, and cultural factors that contributed to the disaster.

Application of Case Study

Case studies have a wide range of applications across various fields and industries. Here are some examples:

Business and Management

Case studies are widely used in business and management to examine real-life situations and develop problem-solving skills. Case studies can help students and professionals to develop a deep understanding of business concepts, theories, and best practices.

Case studies are used in healthcare to examine patient care, treatment options, and outcomes. Case studies can help healthcare professionals to develop critical thinking skills, diagnose complex medical conditions, and develop effective treatment plans.

Case studies are used in education to examine teaching and learning practices. Case studies can help educators to develop effective teaching strategies, evaluate student progress, and identify areas for improvement.

Social Sciences

Case studies are widely used in social sciences to examine human behavior, social phenomena, and cultural practices. Case studies can help researchers to develop theories, test hypotheses, and gain insights into complex social issues.

Law and Ethics

Case studies are used in law and ethics to examine legal and ethical dilemmas. Case studies can help lawyers, policymakers, and ethical professionals to develop critical thinking skills, analyze complex cases, and make informed decisions.

Purpose of Case Study

The purpose of a case study is to provide a detailed analysis of a specific phenomenon, issue, or problem in its real-life context. A case study is a qualitative research method that involves the in-depth exploration and analysis of a particular case, which can be an individual, group, organization, event, or community.

The primary purpose of a case study is to generate a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the case, including its history, context, and dynamics. Case studies can help researchers to identify and examine the underlying factors, processes, and mechanisms that contribute to the case and its outcomes. This can help to develop a more accurate and detailed understanding of the case, which can inform future research, practice, or policy.

Case studies can also serve other purposes, including:

• Illustrating a theory or concept: Case studies can be used to illustrate and explain theoretical concepts and frameworks, providing concrete examples of how they can be applied in real-life situations.
• Developing hypotheses: Case studies can help to generate hypotheses about the causal relationships between different factors and outcomes, which can be tested through further research.
• Providing insight into complex issues: Case studies can provide insights into complex and multifaceted issues, which may be difficult to understand through other research methods.
• Informing practice or policy: Case studies can be used to inform practice or policy by identifying best practices, lessons learned, or areas for improvement.

Advantages of Case Study Research

There are several advantages of case study research, including:

• In-depth exploration: Case study research allows for a detailed exploration and analysis of a specific phenomenon, issue, or problem in its real-life context. This can provide a comprehensive understanding of the case and its dynamics, which may not be possible through other research methods.
• Rich data: Case study research can generate rich and detailed data, including qualitative data such as interviews, observations, and documents. This can provide a nuanced understanding of the case and its complexity.
• Holistic perspective: Case study research allows for a holistic perspective of the case, taking into account the various factors, processes, and mechanisms that contribute to the case and its outcomes. This can help to develop a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the case.
• Theory development: Case study research can help to develop and refine theories and concepts by providing empirical evidence and concrete examples of how they can be applied in real-life situations.
• Practical application: Case study research can inform practice or policy by identifying best practices, lessons learned, or areas for improvement.
• Contextualization: Case study research takes into account the specific context in which the case is situated, which can help to understand how the case is influenced by the social, cultural, and historical factors of its environment.

Limitations of Case Study Research

There are several limitations of case study research, including:

• Limited generalizability : Case studies are typically focused on a single case or a small number of cases, which limits the generalizability of the findings. The unique characteristics of the case may not be applicable to other contexts or populations, which may limit the external validity of the research.
• Biased sampling: Case studies may rely on purposive or convenience sampling, which can introduce bias into the sample selection process. This may limit the representativeness of the sample and the generalizability of the findings.
• Subjectivity: Case studies rely on the interpretation of the researcher, which can introduce subjectivity into the analysis. The researcher’s own biases, assumptions, and perspectives may influence the findings, which may limit the objectivity of the research.
• Limited control: Case studies are typically conducted in naturalistic settings, which limits the control that the researcher has over the environment and the variables being studied. This may limit the ability to establish causal relationships between variables.
• Time-consuming: Case studies can be time-consuming to conduct, as they typically involve a detailed exploration and analysis of a specific case. This may limit the feasibility of conducting multiple case studies or conducting case studies in a timely manner.
• Resource-intensive: Case studies may require significant resources, including time, funding, and expertise. This may limit the ability of researchers to conduct case studies in resource-constrained settings.

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Writing a Case Study

What is a case study?

A Case study is: 

• An in-depth research design that primarily uses a qualitative methodology but sometimes​​ includes quantitative methodology.
• Used to examine an identifiable problem confirmed through research.
• Used to investigate an individual, group of people, organization, or event.
• Used to mostly answer "how" and "why" questions.

What are the different types of case studies?

Note: These are the primary case studies. As you continue to research and learn

about case studies you will begin to find a robust list of different types. 

Who are your case study participants?

What is triangulation ? 

Validity and credibility are an essential part of the case study. Therefore, the researcher should include triangulation to ensure trustworthiness while accurately reflecting what the researcher seeks to investigate.

How to write a Case Study?

When developing a case study, there are different ways you could present the information, but remember to include the five parts for your case study.

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• Last Updated: Apr 18, 2024 3:46 PM
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• Open access
• Published: 27 June 2011

The case study approach

• Sarah Crowe 1 ,
• Kathrin Cresswell 2 ,
• Ann Robertson 2 ,
• Guro Huby 3 ,
• Anthony Avery 1 &
• Aziz Sheikh 2  

BMC Medical Research Methodology volume  11 , Article number:  100 ( 2011 ) Cite this article

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The case study approach allows in-depth, multi-faceted explorations of complex issues in their real-life settings. The value of the case study approach is well recognised in the fields of business, law and policy, but somewhat less so in health services research. Based on our experiences of conducting several health-related case studies, we reflect on the different types of case study design, the specific research questions this approach can help answer, the data sources that tend to be used, and the particular advantages and disadvantages of employing this methodological approach. The paper concludes with key pointers to aid those designing and appraising proposals for conducting case study research, and a checklist to help readers assess the quality of case study reports.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

The case study approach is particularly useful to employ when there is a need to obtain an in-depth appreciation of an issue, event or phenomenon of interest, in its natural real-life context. Our aim in writing this piece is to provide insights into when to consider employing this approach and an overview of key methodological considerations in relation to the design, planning, analysis, interpretation and reporting of case studies.

The illustrative 'grand round', 'case report' and 'case series' have a long tradition in clinical practice and research. Presenting detailed critiques, typically of one or more patients, aims to provide insights into aspects of the clinical case and, in doing so, illustrate broader lessons that may be learnt. In research, the conceptually-related case study approach can be used, for example, to describe in detail a patient's episode of care, explore professional attitudes to and experiences of a new policy initiative or service development or more generally to 'investigate contemporary phenomena within its real-life context' [ 1 ]. Based on our experiences of conducting a range of case studies, we reflect on when to consider using this approach, discuss the key steps involved and illustrate, with examples, some of the practical challenges of attaining an in-depth understanding of a 'case' as an integrated whole. In keeping with previously published work, we acknowledge the importance of theory to underpin the design, selection, conduct and interpretation of case studies[ 2 ]. In so doing, we make passing reference to the different epistemological approaches used in case study research by key theoreticians and methodologists in this field of enquiry.

This paper is structured around the following main questions: What is a case study? What are case studies used for? How are case studies conducted? What are the potential pitfalls and how can these be avoided? We draw in particular on four of our own recently published examples of case studies (see Tables 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 ) and those of others to illustrate our discussion[ 3 – 7 ].

What is a case study?

A case study is a research approach that is used to generate an in-depth, multi-faceted understanding of a complex issue in its real-life context. It is an established research design that is used extensively in a wide variety of disciplines, particularly in the social sciences. A case study can be defined in a variety of ways (Table 5 ), the central tenet being the need to explore an event or phenomenon in depth and in its natural context. It is for this reason sometimes referred to as a "naturalistic" design; this is in contrast to an "experimental" design (such as a randomised controlled trial) in which the investigator seeks to exert control over and manipulate the variable(s) of interest.

Stake's work has been particularly influential in defining the case study approach to scientific enquiry. He has helpfully characterised three main types of case study: intrinsic , instrumental and collective [ 8 ]. An intrinsic case study is typically undertaken to learn about a unique phenomenon. The researcher should define the uniqueness of the phenomenon, which distinguishes it from all others. In contrast, the instrumental case study uses a particular case (some of which may be better than others) to gain a broader appreciation of an issue or phenomenon. The collective case study involves studying multiple cases simultaneously or sequentially in an attempt to generate a still broader appreciation of a particular issue.

These are however not necessarily mutually exclusive categories. In the first of our examples (Table 1 ), we undertook an intrinsic case study to investigate the issue of recruitment of minority ethnic people into the specific context of asthma research studies, but it developed into a instrumental case study through seeking to understand the issue of recruitment of these marginalised populations more generally, generating a number of the findings that are potentially transferable to other disease contexts[ 3 ]. In contrast, the other three examples (see Tables 2 , 3 and 4 ) employed collective case study designs to study the introduction of workforce reconfiguration in primary care, the implementation of electronic health records into hospitals, and to understand the ways in which healthcare students learn about patient safety considerations[ 4 – 6 ]. Although our study focusing on the introduction of General Practitioners with Specialist Interests (Table 2 ) was explicitly collective in design (four contrasting primary care organisations were studied), is was also instrumental in that this particular professional group was studied as an exemplar of the more general phenomenon of workforce redesign[ 4 ].

What are case studies used for?

According to Yin, case studies can be used to explain, describe or explore events or phenomena in the everyday contexts in which they occur[ 1 ]. These can, for example, help to understand and explain causal links and pathways resulting from a new policy initiative or service development (see Tables 2 and 3 , for example)[ 1 ]. In contrast to experimental designs, which seek to test a specific hypothesis through deliberately manipulating the environment (like, for example, in a randomised controlled trial giving a new drug to randomly selected individuals and then comparing outcomes with controls),[ 9 ] the case study approach lends itself well to capturing information on more explanatory ' how ', 'what' and ' why ' questions, such as ' how is the intervention being implemented and received on the ground?'. The case study approach can offer additional insights into what gaps exist in its delivery or why one implementation strategy might be chosen over another. This in turn can help develop or refine theory, as shown in our study of the teaching of patient safety in undergraduate curricula (Table 4 )[ 6 , 10 ]. Key questions to consider when selecting the most appropriate study design are whether it is desirable or indeed possible to undertake a formal experimental investigation in which individuals and/or organisations are allocated to an intervention or control arm? Or whether the wish is to obtain a more naturalistic understanding of an issue? The former is ideally studied using a controlled experimental design, whereas the latter is more appropriately studied using a case study design.

Case studies may be approached in different ways depending on the epistemological standpoint of the researcher, that is, whether they take a critical (questioning one's own and others' assumptions), interpretivist (trying to understand individual and shared social meanings) or positivist approach (orientating towards the criteria of natural sciences, such as focusing on generalisability considerations) (Table 6 ). Whilst such a schema can be conceptually helpful, it may be appropriate to draw on more than one approach in any case study, particularly in the context of conducting health services research. Doolin has, for example, noted that in the context of undertaking interpretative case studies, researchers can usefully draw on a critical, reflective perspective which seeks to take into account the wider social and political environment that has shaped the case[ 11 ].

How are case studies conducted?

Here, we focus on the main stages of research activity when planning and undertaking a case study; the crucial stages are: defining the case; selecting the case(s); collecting and analysing the data; interpreting data; and reporting the findings.

Defining the case

Carefully formulated research question(s), informed by the existing literature and a prior appreciation of the theoretical issues and setting(s), are all important in appropriately and succinctly defining the case[ 8 , 12 ]. Crucially, each case should have a pre-defined boundary which clarifies the nature and time period covered by the case study (i.e. its scope, beginning and end), the relevant social group, organisation or geographical area of interest to the investigator, the types of evidence to be collected, and the priorities for data collection and analysis (see Table 7 )[ 1 ]. A theory driven approach to defining the case may help generate knowledge that is potentially transferable to a range of clinical contexts and behaviours; using theory is also likely to result in a more informed appreciation of, for example, how and why interventions have succeeded or failed[ 13 ].

For example, in our evaluation of the introduction of electronic health records in English hospitals (Table 3 ), we defined our cases as the NHS Trusts that were receiving the new technology[ 5 ]. Our focus was on how the technology was being implemented. However, if the primary research interest had been on the social and organisational dimensions of implementation, we might have defined our case differently as a grouping of healthcare professionals (e.g. doctors and/or nurses). The precise beginning and end of the case may however prove difficult to define. Pursuing this same example, when does the process of implementation and adoption of an electronic health record system really begin or end? Such judgements will inevitably be influenced by a range of factors, including the research question, theory of interest, the scope and richness of the gathered data and the resources available to the research team.

Selecting the case(s)

The decision on how to select the case(s) to study is a very important one that merits some reflection. In an intrinsic case study, the case is selected on its own merits[ 8 ]. The case is selected not because it is representative of other cases, but because of its uniqueness, which is of genuine interest to the researchers. This was, for example, the case in our study of the recruitment of minority ethnic participants into asthma research (Table 1 ) as our earlier work had demonstrated the marginalisation of minority ethnic people with asthma, despite evidence of disproportionate asthma morbidity[ 14 , 15 ]. In another example of an intrinsic case study, Hellstrom et al.[ 16 ] studied an elderly married couple living with dementia to explore how dementia had impacted on their understanding of home, their everyday life and their relationships.

For an instrumental case study, selecting a "typical" case can work well[ 8 ]. In contrast to the intrinsic case study, the particular case which is chosen is of less importance than selecting a case that allows the researcher to investigate an issue or phenomenon. For example, in order to gain an understanding of doctors' responses to health policy initiatives, Som undertook an instrumental case study interviewing clinicians who had a range of responsibilities for clinical governance in one NHS acute hospital trust[ 17 ]. Sampling a "deviant" or "atypical" case may however prove even more informative, potentially enabling the researcher to identify causal processes, generate hypotheses and develop theory.

In collective or multiple case studies, a number of cases are carefully selected. This offers the advantage of allowing comparisons to be made across several cases and/or replication. Choosing a "typical" case may enable the findings to be generalised to theory (i.e. analytical generalisation) or to test theory by replicating the findings in a second or even a third case (i.e. replication logic)[ 1 ]. Yin suggests two or three literal replications (i.e. predicting similar results) if the theory is straightforward and five or more if the theory is more subtle. However, critics might argue that selecting 'cases' in this way is insufficiently reflexive and ill-suited to the complexities of contemporary healthcare organisations.

The selected case study site(s) should allow the research team access to the group of individuals, the organisation, the processes or whatever else constitutes the chosen unit of analysis for the study. Access is therefore a central consideration; the researcher needs to come to know the case study site(s) well and to work cooperatively with them. Selected cases need to be not only interesting but also hospitable to the inquiry [ 8 ] if they are to be informative and answer the research question(s). Case study sites may also be pre-selected for the researcher, with decisions being influenced by key stakeholders. For example, our selection of case study sites in the evaluation of the implementation and adoption of electronic health record systems (see Table 3 ) was heavily influenced by NHS Connecting for Health, the government agency that was responsible for overseeing the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT)[ 5 ]. This prominent stakeholder had already selected the NHS sites (through a competitive bidding process) to be early adopters of the electronic health record systems and had negotiated contracts that detailed the deployment timelines.

It is also important to consider in advance the likely burden and risks associated with participation for those who (or the site(s) which) comprise the case study. Of particular importance is the obligation for the researcher to think through the ethical implications of the study (e.g. the risk of inadvertently breaching anonymity or confidentiality) and to ensure that potential participants/participating sites are provided with sufficient information to make an informed choice about joining the study. The outcome of providing this information might be that the emotive burden associated with participation, or the organisational disruption associated with supporting the fieldwork, is considered so high that the individuals or sites decide against participation.

In our example of evaluating implementations of electronic health record systems, given the restricted number of early adopter sites available to us, we sought purposively to select a diverse range of implementation cases among those that were available[ 5 ]. We chose a mixture of teaching, non-teaching and Foundation Trust hospitals, and examples of each of the three electronic health record systems procured centrally by the NPfIT. At one recruited site, it quickly became apparent that access was problematic because of competing demands on that organisation. Recognising the importance of full access and co-operative working for generating rich data, the research team decided not to pursue work at that site and instead to focus on other recruited sites.

Collecting the data

In order to develop a thorough understanding of the case, the case study approach usually involves the collection of multiple sources of evidence, using a range of quantitative (e.g. questionnaires, audits and analysis of routinely collected healthcare data) and more commonly qualitative techniques (e.g. interviews, focus groups and observations). The use of multiple sources of data (data triangulation) has been advocated as a way of increasing the internal validity of a study (i.e. the extent to which the method is appropriate to answer the research question)[ 8 , 18 – 21 ]. An underlying assumption is that data collected in different ways should lead to similar conclusions, and approaching the same issue from different angles can help develop a holistic picture of the phenomenon (Table 2 )[ 4 ].

Brazier and colleagues used a mixed-methods case study approach to investigate the impact of a cancer care programme[ 22 ]. Here, quantitative measures were collected with questionnaires before, and five months after, the start of the intervention which did not yield any statistically significant results. Qualitative interviews with patients however helped provide an insight into potentially beneficial process-related aspects of the programme, such as greater, perceived patient involvement in care. The authors reported how this case study approach provided a number of contextual factors likely to influence the effectiveness of the intervention and which were not likely to have been obtained from quantitative methods alone.

In collective or multiple case studies, data collection needs to be flexible enough to allow a detailed description of each individual case to be developed (e.g. the nature of different cancer care programmes), before considering the emerging similarities and differences in cross-case comparisons (e.g. to explore why one programme is more effective than another). It is important that data sources from different cases are, where possible, broadly comparable for this purpose even though they may vary in nature and depth.

Analysing, interpreting and reporting case studies

Making sense and offering a coherent interpretation of the typically disparate sources of data (whether qualitative alone or together with quantitative) is far from straightforward. Repeated reviewing and sorting of the voluminous and detail-rich data are integral to the process of analysis. In collective case studies, it is helpful to analyse data relating to the individual component cases first, before making comparisons across cases. Attention needs to be paid to variations within each case and, where relevant, the relationship between different causes, effects and outcomes[ 23 ]. Data will need to be organised and coded to allow the key issues, both derived from the literature and emerging from the dataset, to be easily retrieved at a later stage. An initial coding frame can help capture these issues and can be applied systematically to the whole dataset with the aid of a qualitative data analysis software package.

The Framework approach is a practical approach, comprising of five stages (familiarisation; identifying a thematic framework; indexing; charting; mapping and interpretation) , to managing and analysing large datasets particularly if time is limited, as was the case in our study of recruitment of South Asians into asthma research (Table 1 )[ 3 , 24 ]. Theoretical frameworks may also play an important role in integrating different sources of data and examining emerging themes. For example, we drew on a socio-technical framework to help explain the connections between different elements - technology; people; and the organisational settings within which they worked - in our study of the introduction of electronic health record systems (Table 3 )[ 5 ]. Our study of patient safety in undergraduate curricula drew on an evaluation-based approach to design and analysis, which emphasised the importance of the academic, organisational and practice contexts through which students learn (Table 4 )[ 6 ].

Case study findings can have implications both for theory development and theory testing. They may establish, strengthen or weaken historical explanations of a case and, in certain circumstances, allow theoretical (as opposed to statistical) generalisation beyond the particular cases studied[ 12 ]. These theoretical lenses should not, however, constitute a strait-jacket and the cases should not be "forced to fit" the particular theoretical framework that is being employed.

When reporting findings, it is important to provide the reader with enough contextual information to understand the processes that were followed and how the conclusions were reached. In a collective case study, researchers may choose to present the findings from individual cases separately before amalgamating across cases. Care must be taken to ensure the anonymity of both case sites and individual participants (if agreed in advance) by allocating appropriate codes or withholding descriptors. In the example given in Table 3 , we decided against providing detailed information on the NHS sites and individual participants in order to avoid the risk of inadvertent disclosure of identities[ 5 , 25 ].

What are the potential pitfalls and how can these be avoided?

The case study approach is, as with all research, not without its limitations. When investigating the formal and informal ways undergraduate students learn about patient safety (Table 4 ), for example, we rapidly accumulated a large quantity of data. The volume of data, together with the time restrictions in place, impacted on the depth of analysis that was possible within the available resources. This highlights a more general point of the importance of avoiding the temptation to collect as much data as possible; adequate time also needs to be set aside for data analysis and interpretation of what are often highly complex datasets.

Case study research has sometimes been criticised for lacking scientific rigour and providing little basis for generalisation (i.e. producing findings that may be transferable to other settings)[ 1 ]. There are several ways to address these concerns, including: the use of theoretical sampling (i.e. drawing on a particular conceptual framework); respondent validation (i.e. participants checking emerging findings and the researcher's interpretation, and providing an opinion as to whether they feel these are accurate); and transparency throughout the research process (see Table 8 )[ 8 , 18 – 21 , 23 , 26 ]. Transparency can be achieved by describing in detail the steps involved in case selection, data collection, the reasons for the particular methods chosen, and the researcher's background and level of involvement (i.e. being explicit about how the researcher has influenced data collection and interpretation). Seeking potential, alternative explanations, and being explicit about how interpretations and conclusions were reached, help readers to judge the trustworthiness of the case study report. Stake provides a critique checklist for a case study report (Table 9 )[ 8 ].

Conclusions

The case study approach allows, amongst other things, critical events, interventions, policy developments and programme-based service reforms to be studied in detail in a real-life context. It should therefore be considered when an experimental design is either inappropriate to answer the research questions posed or impossible to undertake. Considering the frequency with which implementations of innovations are now taking place in healthcare settings and how well the case study approach lends itself to in-depth, complex health service research, we believe this approach should be more widely considered by researchers. Though inherently challenging, the research case study can, if carefully conceptualised and thoughtfully undertaken and reported, yield powerful insights into many important aspects of health and healthcare delivery.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the participants and colleagues who contributed to the individual case studies that we have drawn on. This work received no direct funding, but it has been informed by projects funded by Asthma UK, the NHS Service Delivery Organisation, NHS Connecting for Health Evaluation Programme, and Patient Safety Research Portfolio. We would also like to thank the expert reviewers for their insightful and constructive feedback. Our thanks are also due to Dr. Allison Worth who commented on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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Sarah Crowe & Anthony Avery

Centre for Population Health Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Kathrin Cresswell, Ann Robertson & Aziz Sheikh

School of Health in Social Science, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

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AS conceived this article. SC, KC and AR wrote this paper with GH, AA and AS all commenting on various drafts. SC and AS are guarantors.

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Crowe, S., Cresswell, K., Robertson, A. et al. The case study approach. BMC Med Res Methodol 11 , 100 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-11-100

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5 Benefits of Learning Through the Case Study Method

• 28 Nov 2023

While several factors make HBS Online unique —including a global Community and real-world outcomes —active learning through the case study method rises to the top.

In a 2023 City Square Associates survey, 74 percent of HBS Online learners who also took a course from another provider said HBS Online’s case method and real-world examples were better by comparison.

Here’s a primer on the case method, five benefits you could gain, and how to experience it for yourself.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is the Harvard Business School Case Study Method?

The case study method , or case method , is a learning technique in which you’re presented with a real-world business challenge and asked how you’d solve it. After working through it yourself and with peers, you’re told how the scenario played out.

HBS pioneered the case method in 1922. Shortly before, in 1921, the first case was written.

“How do you go into an ambiguous situation and get to the bottom of it?” says HBS Professor Jan Rivkin, former senior associate dean and chair of HBS's master of business administration (MBA) program, in a video about the case method . “That skill—the skill of figuring out a course of inquiry to choose a course of action—that skill is as relevant today as it was in 1921.”

Originally developed for the in-person MBA classroom, HBS Online adapted the case method into an engaging, interactive online learning experience in 2014.

In HBS Online courses , you learn about each case from the business professional who experienced it. After reviewing their videos, you’re prompted to take their perspective and explain how you’d handle their situation.

You then get to read peers’ responses, “star” them, and comment to further the discussion. Afterward, you learn how the professional handled it and their key takeaways.

HBS Online’s adaptation of the case method incorporates the famed HBS “cold call,” in which you’re called on at random to make a decision without time to prepare.

“Learning came to life!” said Sheneka Balogun , chief administration officer and chief of staff at LeMoyne-Owen College, of her experience taking the Credential of Readiness (CORe) program . “The videos from the professors, the interactive cold calls where you were randomly selected to participate, and the case studies that enhanced and often captured the essence of objectives and learning goals were all embedded in each module. This made learning fun, engaging, and student-friendly.”

If you’re considering taking a course that leverages the case study method, here are five benefits you could experience.

5 Benefits of Learning Through Case Studies

1. take new perspectives.

The case method prompts you to consider a scenario from another person’s perspective. To work through the situation and come up with a solution, you must consider their circumstances, limitations, risk tolerance, stakeholders, resources, and potential consequences to assess how to respond.

Taking on new perspectives not only can help you navigate your own challenges but also others’. Putting yourself in someone else’s situation to understand their motivations and needs can go a long way when collaborating with stakeholders.

2. Hone Your Decision-Making Skills

Another skill you can build is the ability to make decisions effectively . The case study method forces you to use limited information to decide how to handle a problem—just like in the real world.

Throughout your career, you’ll need to make difficult decisions with incomplete or imperfect information—and sometimes, you won’t feel qualified to do so. Learning through the case method allows you to practice this skill in a low-stakes environment. When facing a real challenge, you’ll be better prepared to think quickly, collaborate with others, and present and defend your solution.

3. Become More Open-Minded

As you collaborate with peers on responses, it becomes clear that not everyone solves problems the same way. Exposing yourself to various approaches and perspectives can help you become a more open-minded professional.

When you’re part of a diverse group of learners from around the world, your experiences, cultures, and backgrounds contribute to a range of opinions on each case.

On the HBS Online course platform, you’re prompted to view and comment on others’ responses, and discussion is encouraged. This practice of considering others’ perspectives can make you more receptive in your career.

“You’d be surprised at how much you can learn from your peers,” said Ratnaditya Jonnalagadda , a software engineer who took CORe.

In addition to interacting with peers in the course platform, Jonnalagadda was part of the HBS Online Community , where he networked with other professionals and continued discussions sparked by course content.

“You get to understand your peers better, and students share examples of businesses implementing a concept from a module you just learned,” Jonnalagadda said. “It’s a very good way to cement the concepts in one's mind.”

4. Enhance Your Curiosity

One byproduct of taking on different perspectives is that it enables you to picture yourself in various roles, industries, and business functions.

“Each case offers an opportunity for students to see what resonates with them, what excites them, what bores them, which role they could imagine inhabiting in their careers,” says former HBS Dean Nitin Nohria in the Harvard Business Review . “Cases stimulate curiosity about the range of opportunities in the world and the many ways that students can make a difference as leaders.”

Through the case method, you can “try on” roles you may not have considered and feel more prepared to change or advance your career .

5. Build Your Self-Confidence

Finally, learning through the case study method can build your confidence. Each time you assume a business leader’s perspective, aim to solve a new challenge, and express and defend your opinions and decisions to peers, you prepare to do the same in your career.

According to a 2022 City Square Associates survey , 84 percent of HBS Online learners report feeling more confident making business decisions after taking a course.

“Self-confidence is difficult to teach or coach, but the case study method seems to instill it in people,” Nohria says in the Harvard Business Review . “There may well be other ways of learning these meta-skills, such as the repeated experience gained through practice or guidance from a gifted coach. However, under the direction of a masterful teacher, the case method can engage students and help them develop powerful meta-skills like no other form of teaching.”

How to Experience the Case Study Method

If the case method seems like a good fit for your learning style, experience it for yourself by taking an HBS Online course. Offerings span seven subject areas, including:

• Business essentials
• Leadership and management
• Entrepreneurship and innovation
• Finance and accounting
• Business in society

No matter which course or credential program you choose, you’ll examine case studies from real business professionals, work through their challenges alongside peers, and gain valuable insights to apply to your career.

Are you interested in discovering how HBS Online can help advance your career? Explore our course catalog and download our free guide —complete with interactive workbook sections—to determine if online learning is right for you and which course to take.

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O'Mathúna D, Iphofen R, editors. Ethics, Integrity and Policymaking: The Value of the Case Study [Internet]. Cham (CH): Springer; 2022. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15746-2_1

Ethics, Integrity and Policymaking: The Value of the Case Study [Internet].

Chapter 1 making a case for the case: an introduction.

Dónal O’Mathúna and Ron Iphofen .

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Published online: November 3, 2022.

This chapter agues for the importance of case studies in generating evidence to guide and/or support policymaking across a variety of fields. Case studies can offer the kind of depth and detail vital to the nuances of context, which may be important in securing effective policies that take account of influences not easily identified in more generalised studies. Case studies can be written in a variety of ways which are overviewed in this chapter, and can also be written with different purposes in mind. At the same time, case studies have limitations, particularly when evidence of causation is sought. Understanding these can help to ensure that case studies are appropriately used to assist in policymaking. This chapter also provides an overview of the types of case studies found in the rest of this volume, and briefly summarises the themes and topics addressed in each of the other chapters.

1.1. Judging the Ethics of Research

When asked to judge the ethical issues involved in research or any evidence-gathering activity, any research ethicist worth their salt will (or should) reply, at least initially: ‘It depends’. This is neither sophistry nor evasive legalism. Instead, it is a specific form of casuistry used in ethics in which general ethical principles are applied to the specifics of actual cases and inferences made through analogy. It is valued as a structured yet flexible approach to real-world ethical challenges. Case study methods recognise the complexities of depth and detail involved in assessing research activities. Another way of putting this is to say: ‘Don’t ask me to make a judgement about a piece of research until I have the details of the project and the context in which it will or did take place.’ Understanding and fully explicating a context is vital as far as ethical research (and evidence-gathering) is concerned, along with taking account of the complex interrelationship between context and method (Miller and Dingwall 1997 ).

This rationale lies behind this collection of case studies which is one outcome from the EU-funded PRO-RES Project. 1 One aim of this project was to establish the virtues, values, principles and standards most commonly held as supportive of ethical practice by researchers, scientists and evidence-generators and users. The project team conducted desk research, workshops and consulted throughout the project with a wide range of stakeholders (PRO-RES 2021a ). The resulting Scientific, Trustworthy, and Ethical evidence for Policy (STEP) ACCORD was devised, which all stakeholders could sign up to and endorse in the interests of ensuring any policies which are the outcome of research findings are based upon ethical evidence (PRO-RES 2021b ).

By ‘ethical evidence’ we mean results and findings that have been generated by research and other activities during which the standards of research ethics and integrity have been upheld (Iphofen and O’Mathúna 2022 ). The first statement of the STEP ACCORD is that policy should be evidence-based, meaning that it is underpinned by high-quality research, analysis and evidence (PRO-RES 2021b ). While our topic could be said to be research ethics, we have chosen to refer more broadly to evidence-generating activities. Much debate has occurred over the precise definition of research under the apparent assumption that ‘non-research projects’ fall outside the purview of requirements to obtain ethics approval from an ethics review body. This debate is more about the regulation of research than the ethics of research and has contributed to an unbalanced approach to the ethics of research (O’Mathúna 2018 ). Research and evidence-generating activities raise many ethical concerns, some similar and some distinct. When the focus is primarily on which projects need to obtain what sort of ethics approval from which type of committee, the ethical issues raised by those activities themselves can receive insufficient attention. This can leave everyone involved with these activities either struggling to figure out how to manage complex and challenging ethical dilemmas or pushing ahead with those activities confident that their approval letter means they have fulfilled all their ethical responsibilities. Unfortunately, this can lead to a view that research ethics is an impediment and burden that must be overcome so that the important work in the research itself can get going.

The alternative perspective advocated by PRO-RES, and the authors of the chapters in this volume, is that ethics underpins all phases of research, from when the idea for a project is conceived, all the way through its design and implementation, and on to how its findings are disseminated and put into practice in individual decisions or in policy. Given the range of activities involved in all these phases, multiple types of ethical issues can arise. Each occurs in its own context of time and place, and this must be taken into account. While ethical principles and theories have important contributions to make at each of these points, case studies are also very important. These allow for the normative effects of various assumptions and declarations to be judged in context. We therefore asked the authors of this volume’s chapters to identify various case studies which would demonstrate the ethical challenges entailed in various types of research and evidence-generating activities. These illustrative case studies explore various innovative topics and fields that raise challenges requiring ethical reflection and careful policymaking responses. The cases highlight diverse ethical issues and provide lessons for the various options available for policymaking (see Sect.  1.6 . below). Cases are drawn from many fields, including artificial intelligence, space science, energy, data protection, professional research practice and pandemic planning. The issues are examined in different locations, including Europe, India, Africa and in global contexts. Each case is examined in detail and also helps to anticipate lessons that could be learned and applied in other situations where ethical evidence is needed to inform evidence-based policymaking.

1.2. The Case for Cases

Case studies have increasingly been used, particularly in social science (Exworthy and Powell 2012 ). Many reasons underlie this trend, one being the movement towards evidence-based practice. Case studies provide a methodology by which a detailed study can be conducted of a social unit, whether that unit is a person, an organization, a policy or a larger group or system (Exworthy and Powell 2012 ). The case study is amenable to various methodologies, mostly qualitative, which allow investigations via documentary analyses, interviews, focus groups, observations, and more.

At the same time, consensus is lacking over the precise nature of a case study. Various definitions have been offered, but Yin ( 2017 ) provides a widely cited definition with two parts. One is that a case study is an in-depth inquiry into a real-life phenomenon where the context is highly pertinent. The second part of Yin’s definition addresses the many variables involved in the case, the multiple sources of evidence explored, and the inclusion of theoretical propositions to guide the analysis. While Yin’s emphasis is on the case study as a research method, he identifies important elements of broader relevance that point to the particular value of the case study for examining ethical issues.

Other definitions of case studies emphasize their story or narrative aspects (Gwee 2018 ). These stories frequently highlight a dilemma in contextually rich ways, with an emphasis on how decisions can be or need to be made. Case studies are particularly helpful with ethical issues to provide crucial context and explore (and evaluate) how ethical decisions have been made or need to be made. Classic cases include the Tuskegee public health syphilis study, the Henrietta Lacks human cell line case, the Milgram and Zimbardo psychology cases, the Tea Room Trade case, and the Belfast Project in oral history research (examined here in Chap. 10 ). Cases exemplify core ethical principles, and how they were applied or misapplied; in addition, they examine how policies have worked well or not (Chaps. 2 , 3 and 5 ). Cases can examine ethics in long-standing issues (like research misconduct (Chap. 7 ), energy production (Chap. 8 ), or Chap. 11 ’s consideration of researchers breaking the law), or with innovations in need of further ethical reflection because of their novelty (like extended space flight (Chap. 9 ) and AI (Chaps. 13 and 14 ), with the latter looking at automation in legal systems). These case studies help to situate the innovations within the context of widely regarded ethical principles and theories, and allow comparisons to be made with other technologies or practices where ethical positions have been developed. In doing so, these case studies offer pointers and suggestions for policymakers given that they are the ones who will develop applicable policies.

1.3. Research Design and Causal Inference

Not everyone is convinced of the value of the case study. It must be admitted that they have limitations, which we will reflect on shortly. Yet we believe that others go too far in their criticisms, revealing instead some prejudices against the value of the case (Yin 2017 ). In what has become a classic text for research design, Campbell and Stanley ( 1963 ) have few good words for what they call the ‘One Shot Case Study.’ They rank it below two other ‘pre-experimental’ designs—the One-Group Pretest–Posttest and the Static-Group Comparison—and conclude that case studies “have such a total absence of control to be of almost no scientific value” (Campbell and Stanley 1963 , 6). The other designs have, in turn, a baseline and outcome measure and some degree of comparative analysis which provides them some validity. Such a criticism is legitimate if one prioritises the experimental method as the most superior in terms of effectiveness evidence and, as for Campbell and Stanley, one is striving to assess the effectiveness of educational interventions.

What is missing from that assessment is that different methodologies are more appropriate for different kinds of questions. Questions of causation and whether a particular treatment, policy or educational strategy is more effective than another are best answered by experimental methods. While experimental designs are better suited to explore causal relationships, case studies are more suited to explore “how” and “why” questions (Yin 2017 ). It can be more productive to view different methodologies as complementing one another, rather than examining them in hierarchical terms.

The case study approach draws on a long tradition in ethnography and anthropology: “It stresses the importance of holistic perspectives and so has more of a ‘humanistic’ emphasis. It recognises that there are multiple influences on any single individual or group and that most other methods neglect the thorough understanding of this range of influences. They usually focus on a chosen variable or variables which are tested in terms of their influence. A case study tends to make no initial assumptions about which are the key variables—preferring to allow the case to ‘speak for itself’” (Iphofen et al. 2009 , 275). This tradition has sometimes discouraged people from conducting or using case studies on the assumption that they take massive amounts of time and lead to huge reports. This is the case with ethnography, but the case study method can be applied in more limited settings and can lead to high-quality, concise reports.

Another criticism of case studies is that they cannot be used to make generalizations. Certainly, there are limits to their generalisability, but the same is true of experimental studies. One randomized controlled trial cannot be generalised to the whole population without ensuring that its details are evaluated in the context of how it was conducted.

Similarly, it should not be assumed that generalisability can adequately guide practice or policy when it comes to the specifics of an individual case. A case study should not be used to support statistical generalizations (that the same percentage found in the case will be found in the general public). But a case study can be used to expand and generalize theories and thus have much usefulness. It affords a method of examining the specific (complex) interactions occurring in a case which can only be known from the details. Such an analysis can be carried out for individuals, policies or interventions.

The current COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the dangers of generalising in the wrong context. Some people have very mild cases of COVID-19 or are asymptomatic. Others get seriously ill and even die. Sometimes people generalise from cases they know and assume they will have mild symptoms. Then they refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine, basically generalising from similar cases. Mass vaccination is recommended for the sake of the health of the public (generalised health) and to limit the spread of a deadly virus. Cases are reported of people having adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines, and some people generalise from these that they will not take whatever risks might be involved in receiving the vaccine themselves. It might be theoretically possible to discover which individuals WILL react adversely to immunisation on a population level. But it is highly complex and expensive to do so, and takes an extensive period of time. Given the urgency of benefitting the health of ‘the public’, policymakers have decided that the risks to a sub-group are warranted. Only after the emergence of epidemiological data disclosing negative effects of some vaccines on some individuals will it become more clear which characteristics typify those cases which are likely to experience the adverse effects, and more accurately quantify the risks of experiencing those effects.

Much literature now points to the advantages and disadvantages of case studies (Gomm et al. 2000 ), and how to use them and conduct them with adequate rigour to ensure the validity of the evidence generated (Schell 1992 ; Yin 2011 , 2017 ). At the same time, legitimate critiques have been made of some case studies because they have been conducted without adequate rigor, in unsystematic ways, or in ways that allowed bias to have more influence than evidence (Hammersley 2001 ). Part of the problem here is similar to interviewing, where some will assume that since interviews are a form of conversation, anyone can do it. Case studies have some similarities to stories, but that doesn’t mean they are quick and easy ways to report on events. That view can lead to the situation where “most people feel that they can prepare a case study, and nearly all of us believe we can understand one. Since neither view is well founded, the case study receives a lot of approbation it does not deserve” (Hoaglin et al., cited in Yin 2017 , 16).

Case studies can be conducted and used in a wide range of ways (Gwee 2018 ). Case studies can be used as a research method, as a teaching tool, as a way of recording events so that learning can be applied to practice, and to facilitate practical problem-solving skills (Luck et al. 2006 ). Significant differences exist between a case study that was developed and used in research compared to one used for teaching (Yin 2017 ). A valid rationale for studying a ‘case’ should be provided so that it is clear that the proposed method is suitable to the topic and subject being studied. The unit of study for a case could be an individual person, social group, community, or society. Sometimes that specific case alone will constitute the actual research project. Thus, the study could be of one individual’s experience, with insights and understanding gained of the individual’s situation which could be of use to understand others’ experiences. Often there will be attempts made at a comparison between cases—one organisation being compared to another, with both being studied in some detail, and in terms of the same or similar criteria. Given this variety, it is important to use cases in ways appropriate to how they were generated.

The case study continues to be an important piece of evidence in clinical decision-making in medicine and healthcare. Here, case studies do not demonstrate causation or effectiveness, but are used as an important step in understanding the experiences of patients, particularly with a new or confusing set of symptoms. This was clearly seen as clinicians published case studies describing a new respiratory infection which the world now knows to be COVID-19. Only as case studies were generated, and the patterns brought together in larger collections of cases, did the characteristics of the illness come to inform those seeking to diagnose at the bedside (Borges do Nascimento et al. 2020 ). Indeed case studies are frequently favoured in nursing, healthcare and social work research where professional missions require a focus on the care of the individual and where cases facilitate making use of the range of research paradigms (Galatzer-Levy et al. 2000 ; Mattaini 1996 ; Gray 1998 ; Luck et al. 2006 ).

1.4. Devil’s in the Detail

Our main concern in this collection is not with case study aetiology but rather to draw on the advantages of the method to highlight key ethical issues related to the use of evidence in influencing policy. Thus, we make no claim to causal ‘generalisation’ on the basis of these reports—but instead we seek to help elucidate ethics issues, if even theoretical, and anticipate responses and obstacles in similar situations and contexts that might help decision-making in novel circumstances. A key strength of case studies is their capacity to connect abstract theoretical concepts to the complex realities of practice and the real world (Luck et al. 2006 ). Ethics cases clearly fit this description and allow the contextual details of issues and dilemmas to be included in discussions of how ethical principles apply as policy is being developed.

Since cases are highly focussed on the specifics of the situation, more time can be given over to data gathering which may be of both qualitative and quantitative natures. Given the many variables involved in the ‘real life’ setting, increased methodological flexibility is required (Yin 2017 ). This means seeking to maximise the data sources—such as archives (personal and public), records (such as personal diaries), observations (participant and covert) and interviews (face-to-face and online)—and revisiting all sources when necessary and as case participants and time allows.

1.5. Cases and Policymaking

Case studies allow researchers and practitioners to learn from the specifics of a situation and apply that learning in similar situations. Ethics case studies allow such reflection to facilitate the development of ethical decision-making skills. This volume has major interests in ethics and evidence-generation (research), but also in a third area: policymaking. Cases can influence policymaking, such as how one case can receive widespread attention and become the impetus to create policy that aims to prevent similar cases. For example, the US federal Brady Law was enacted in 1993 to require background checks on people before they purchase a gun (ATF 2021 ). The law was named for White House Press Secretary James Brady, and his case became widely known in the US. He was shot and paralyzed during John Hinckley, Jr.’s 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Another example, this time in a research context, was how the Tuskegee Syphilis Study led, after its public exposure in 1971, to the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare appointing an expert panel to examine the ethics of that case. This resulted in federal policymakers enacting the National Research Act in 1974, which included setting up a national commission that published the Belmont Report in 1976. This report continues to strongly influence research ethics practice around the world. These examples highlight the power of a case study to influence policymaking.

One of the challenges for policymakers, though, is that compelling cases can often be provided for opposite sides of an issue. Also, while the Belmont Report has been praised for articulating a small number of key ethical principles, how those principles should be applied in specific instances of research remains an ongoing challenge and a point of much discussion. This is particularly relevant for innovative techniques and technologies. Hence the importance of cases interacting with general principles and leading to ongoing reflection and debate over the applicable cases. At the same time, new areas of research and evidence generation activities will lead to questions about how existing ethical principles and values apply. New case studies can help to facilitate that reflection, which can then allow policymakers to consider whether existing policy should be adapted or whether whole new areas of policy are needed.

Case studies also can play an important role in learning from and evaluating policy. Policymakers tend to focus on practical, day-to-day concerns and with the introduction of new programmes (Exworthy and Peckam 2012 ). Time and resources may be scant when it comes to evaluating how well existing policies are performing or reflecting on how policies can be adapted to overcome shortcomings (Hunter 2003 ). Effective policies may exist elsewhere (historically or geographically) and be more easily adapted to a new context instead of starting policymaking from scratch. Case studies can permit learning from past policies (or situations where policies did not exist), and they can illuminate various factors that should be explored in more detail in the context of the current issue or situation. Chaps. 2 , 3 and 5 in this volume are examples of this type of case study.

1.6. The Moral Gain

This volume reflects the ambiguity of ethical dilemmas in contemporary policymaking. Analyses will reflect current debates where consensus has not been achieved yet. These cases illustrate key points made throughout the PRO-RES project: that ethical decision-making is a fluid enterprise, where values, principles and standards must constantly be applied to new situations, new events and new research developments. The cases illustrate how no ‘one point’ exists in the research process where judgements about ethics can be regarded as ‘final.’ Case studies provide excellent ways for readers to develop important decision-making skills.

Research produces novel products and processes which can have broad implications for society, the environment and relationships. Research methods themselves are modified or applied in new ways and places, requiring further ethical reflection. New topics and whole fields of research develop and require careful evaluation and thoughtful responses. New case studies are needed because research constantly generates new issues and new ethics questions for policymaking.

The cases found in this volume address a wide range of topics and involve several disciplines. The cases were selected by the parameters of the PRO-RES project and the Horizon 2020 funding call to which it responded. First, the call was concerned with both research ethics and scientific integrity and each of the cases addresses one or both of these areas. The call sought projects that addressed non-medical research, and the cases here address disciplines such as social sciences, engineering, artificial intelligence and One Health. The call also sought particular attention be given to (a) covert research, (b) working in dangerous areas/conflict zones and (c) behavioral research collecting data from social media/internet sources. Hence, we included cases that addressed each of these areas. Finally, while an EU-funded project can be expected to have a European focus, the issues addressed have global implications. Therefore, we wanted to include cases studies from outside Europe and did so by involving authors from India and Africa to reflect on the volume’s areas of interest.

The first case study offered in this volume (Chap. 2 ) examines a significant policy approach taken by the European Union to address ethics and integrity in research and innovation: Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). This chapter examines the lessons that can be learned from RRI in a European context. Chapter 3 elaborates on this topic with another policy learning case study, but this time examining RRI in India. One of the critiques made of RRI is that it can be Euro-centric. This case study examines this claim, and also describes how a distinctively Indian concept, Scientific Temper, can add to and contextualise RRI. Chapter 4 takes a different approach in being a case study of the development of research ethics guidance in the United Kingdom (UK). It explores the history underlying the research ethics framework commissioned by the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) and the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA), and points to lessons that can be learned about the policy-development process itself.

While staying focused on policy related to research ethics, the chapters that follow include case studies that address more targeted concerns. Chapter 5 examines the impact of the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the Republic of Croatia. Research data collected in Croatia is used to explore the handling of personal data before and after the introduction of GDPR. This case study aims to provide lessons learned that could contribute to research ethics policies and procedures in other European Member States.

Chapter 6 moves from policy itself to the role of policy advisors in policymaking. This case study explores the distinct responsibilities of those elevated to the role of “policy advisor,” especially given the current lack of policy to regulate this field or how its advice is used by policymakers. Next, Chap. 7 straddles the previous chapters’ focus on policy and its evaluation while introducing the focus of the next section on historical case studies. This chapter uses the so-called “race for the superconductor” as a case study by which the PRO-RES ethics framework is used to explore specific ethical dilemmas (PRO-RES 2021b ). This case study is especially useful for policymakers because of how it reveals the multiple difficulties in balancing economic, political, institutional and professional requirements and values.

The next case study continues the use of historical cases, but here to explore the challenges facing innovative research into unorthodox energy technology that has the potential to displace traditional energy suppliers. The wave power case in Chap. 8 highlights how conducting research with integrity can have serious consequences and come with considerable cost. The case also points to the importance of transparency in how evidence is used in policymaking so that trust in science and scientists is promoted at the same time as science is used in the public interest. Another area of cutting-edge scientific innovation is explored in Chap. 9 , but this time looking to the future. This case study examines space exploration, and specifically the ethical issues around establishing safe exposure standards for astronauts embarking on extended duration spaceflights. This case highlights the ethical challenges in policymaking focused on an elite group of people (astronauts) who embark on extremely risky activities in the name of science and humanity.

Chapter 10 moves from the physical sciences to the social sciences. The Belfast Project provides a case study to explore the ethical challenges of conducting research after violent conflict. In this case, researchers promised anonymity and confidentiality to research participants, yet that was overturned through legal proceedings which highlighted the limits of confidentiality in research. This case points to the difficulty of balancing the value of research archives in understanding conflict against the value of providing juridical evidence to promote justice. Another social science case is examined in Chap. 11 , this time in ethnography. This so-called ‘urban explorer’ case study explores the justifications that might exist for undertaking covert research where researchers break the law (in this case by trespassing) in order to investigate a topic that would remain otherwise poorly understood. This case raises a number of important questions for policymakers around: the freedoms that researchers should be given to act in the public interest; when researchers are justified in breaking the law; and what responsibilities and consequences researchers should accept if they believe they are justified in doing so.

Further complexity in research and evidence generation is introduced in Chap. 12 . A case study in One Health is used to explore ethical issues at the intersection of animal, human and environmental ethics. The pertinence of such studies has been highlighted by COVID-19, yet policies lag behind in recognising the urgency and complexity of initiating investigations into novel outbreaks, such as the one discussed here that occurred among animals in Ethiopia. Chapter 13 retains the COVID-19 setting, but returns the attention to technological innovation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the focus of these two chapters in the volume, here examining the ethical challenges arising from the emergency authorisation of using AI to respond to the public health needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapter 14 addresses a longer term use of AI in addressing problems and challenges in the legal system. Using the so-called Robodebt case, the chapter explores the reasons why legal systems are turning to AI and other automated procedures. The Robodebt case highlights problems when AI algorithms are built on inaccurate assumptions and implemented with little human oversight. This case shows the massive problems for hundreds of thousands of Australians who became victims of poorly conceived AI and makes recommendations to assist policymakers to avoid similar debacles. The last chapter (Chap. 15 ) draws some general conclusions from all the cases that are relevant when using case studies.

1.7. Into the Future

This volume focuses on ethics in research and professional integrity and how we can be clear about the lessons that can be drawn to assist policymakers. The cases provided cover a wide range of situations, settings, and disciplines. They cover international, national, organisational, group and individual levels of concern. Each case raises distinct issues, yet also points to some general features of research, evidence-generation, ethics and policymaking. All the studies illustrate the difficulties of drawing clear ‘boundaries’ between the research and the context. All these case studies show how in real situations dynamic judgements have to be made about many different issues. Guidelines and policies do help and are needed. But at the same time, researchers, policymakers and everyone else involved in evidence generation and evidence implementation need to embody the virtues that are central to good research. Judgments will need to be made in many areas, for example, about how much transparency can be allowed, or is ethically justified; how much risk can be taken, both with participants’ safety and also with the researchers’ safety; how much information can be disclosed to or withheld from participants in their own interests and for the benefit of the ‘science’; and many others. All of these point to just how difficult it can be to apply common standards across disciplines, professions, cultures and countries. That difficulty must be acknowledged and lead to open discussions with the aim of improving practice. The cases presented here point to efforts that have been made towards this. None of them is perfect. Lessons must be learned from all of them, towards which Chap. 15 aims to be a starting point. Only by openly discussing and reflecting on past practice can lessons be learned that can inform policymaking that aims to improve future practice. In this way, ethical progress can become an essential aspect of innovation in research and evidence-generation.

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PRO-RES is a European Commission-funded project aiming to PROmote ethics and integrity in non-medical RESearch by building a supported guidance framework for all non-medical sciences and humanities disciplines adopting social science methodologies. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 788352. Open access fees for this volume were paid for through the PRO-RES funding.

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

• Cite this Page O’Mathúna D, Iphofen R. Making a Case for the Case: An Introduction. 2022 Nov 3. In: O'Mathúna D, Iphofen R, editors. Ethics, Integrity and Policymaking: The Value of the Case Study [Internet]. Cham (CH): Springer; 2022. Chapter 1. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15746-2_1
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In this Page

• Judging the Ethics of Research
• The Case for Cases
• Research Design and Causal Inference
• Devil’s in the Detail
• Cases and Policymaking
• The Moral Gain
• Into the Future

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No matter how much we wish, the practice of business and product development are more art than engineering, more social science than science. We lack an underlying theory or rules base to master in order to ensure successful efforts. The best technique we know to learn from the experience of others is to study business as “cases”.

As a few of us recently discussed on twitter, this is not without challenges. Case studies, from anecdotes to long form posts to academic research are often compelling stories, but learning from them can be tricky. Pattern matching or picking-and-choose techniques and tools can be tempting, but can also pose significant challenges.

From, Star Trek (original series, 1967), The Squire of Gothos .

The Formal Case-Method

While studying history and experience go as far back as education, in the business world the specifics of studying specially researched and prepared “cases” originated with Harvard Business School, HBS (note, I was a visiting scholar at HBS in 1998 and 2013–14 and since then have had the privilege of classroom experience many times). My biased opinion is that the formal case method is incredibly valuable and useful when it comes to learning business or management from the experience of others.

The case method began use at HBS in the 1920’s though was also used earlier at the Law School. The case method is rooted in the ancient Socratic Method , where learning happens by questions from the teacher and answers from the students — or as the fictional Harvard Law Professor Kingsfield described on the first day of class in The Paper Chase (video):

Why don’t I just give you a lecture? Because through my questions, you learn to teach yourselves. Through this method of questioning, answering…questioning, answering…we seek to develop in you the ability to analyze…that vast complex of facts that constitute… the relationships of members within a given society. Questioning and answering. At times you may feel that you have found the correct answer. I assure you that this is a total delusion on your part. You will never find the correct, absolute, and final answer. In my classroom, there is always another question… another question to follow your answer. Yes, you’re on a treadmill. My little questions spin the tumblers of your mind. You’re on an operating table. My little questions are the fingers probing your brain. We do brain surgery here. You teach yourselves the law… but I train your mind. You come in here with a skull full of mush…and you leave thinking like a lawyer.

The same goes for becoming a business leader through studying cases! That’s why most all of an HBS education is via the case method. If you’re wondering, teaching this way is way more difficult than doing slides and a lecture. There’s even a whole book for new teachers that describes the process, and you would likely be surprised to know that one hour of teaching takes many more hours of preparation—just to ask questions!

I’ve written a number of HBS case studies and the work I’ve been part of has been the subject of a few others (all are available on the HBS web site for purchase). HBS cases are unique tools of learning for at least several important reasons.

Cases are written via a desire to explore the process of business rather than to put forth a specific point of view or convince the student of something. The researcher or professor might learn of an interesting situation in a business or market and then seeks out the participants. Upon meeting and learning about what transpired a case gradually appears. This is an inside-out approach to finding the “teachable moment”. Rather than starting with a theory and working backwards, the theory or difficult choice emerges in studying a situation.

An HBS case study is rarely written by talking only to executives or to employees in one functional area. The interviews are rarely managed as PR interviews and participants usually have the right to review the final product and make sure it reflects the company accurately. HBS case writing is a pretty pervasive study of an organization. If you read a case you are likely to hear the voice of many “characters” and you will learn about the organizational chart, resource allocation, and cross-company dynamics that might have influenced a given situation.

Somewhat counter-intuitively, HBS cases are not written to be the definitive answer to a challenging situation. Instead an HBS case is a tool designed to surface the complexities and nuances of a situation that likely lacks a crystal clear answer even in hindsight. Often HBS cases are unsatisfying to read outside the classroom experience, because the real value of the case comes from the collaboration between students and teachers as the learning and potential answers are discovered through questions. The goal is not to find the answer or prove a point, but to explore or even attempt to live through the experience of managers going through a difficult time. If you find a case online, be sure to see if there is an available teaching note as these often describe the detailed plan for leading the class discussion.

When Using Cases Goes Wrong

Most people won’t have a chance to learn from the benefits of the formal case method, so then what should be done when you run across a case-style description of what went on at a business?

In any given business situation, the context you face as a leader is going to be unique. No matter what you can read about another company or leader facing “similar” challenges, there are enough things that are different that it is easy to understand the overall form of a case, but not the real substance.

Specifically, any business or product team you read about is a complete system. Some parts of the system might work well, others not so much. Within the system, people have different perspectives and views of what is working. Yet, when the external results are good (revenue, reviews, users) then everything in that system looks exactly right as though the reason for the success was due to every identifiable attribute of the team. There is a clear risk of survivorship bias of case studies. Most of the stories you will come across are told by those companies or people that saw success. As a result, these cases tend to over-emphasize corporate heroics or remove notions of luck or serendipity and make every success look like a well-orchestrated plan of attack. This is a check you need to make on yourself not only while reading it but in sharing the lessons.

Conversely, any time a failure is studied it seems as though the team could do nothing right — the org structure, the people, the tools used, and everything was just so obviously wrong. Yet there are often gems within even the biggest failures.

In my time at Microsoft I ran across many situations where something would go well in one part of the company and then all of a sudden there was a wave of “learn from a best practice”. Many in the company would wonder how it could be that the Office team would put together a product plan, execute, and ship on time, especially at the scale. Years later people would wonder how the Windows team seemed to go from having so much difficulty getting products released. Different groups would come and talk to people and find out it was pretty complex and that it was no one thing and certainly no one person. People were always looking for the job role (“the project manager”) or the tool (“headcount tracking”) and so on.

The lack of a successful way to mirror what seemed like a simple case led to an analogy rooted in the Star Trek quote at the start of the post — I used to call this the food synthesizer problem. People would look at the team, the inputs and outputs, and then imitate the parts of the system they could readily synthesize or worse conclude there was a need for one specific change based on their own assessment of what was missing from their own team. This never produced the desired results.

The root of this failed use of studying an existing team was the difficult challenge of understanding totality of the substance, not just the form, of a complex organization. Organizations are an incredibly complex set of interrelated “features” made up of people and processes, both formal and informal, and even the best descriptions can fail to capture all the facets of a team.

Whether from a best practices offsite, a mentoring session, an HBS case, or a business book the following are some cautions in taking a case too literally or in missing the substance versus the form of a case:

• Focus on artifacts. By far the most common action in looking at a case study is to focus in on the tool used to solve the problem. This tool could be a “balanced scorecard”, a specific kind of financial accounting/report, a way to track work items, or even an actual software tool or library. The focus on artifacts fills our need to find a tangible solution that can be readily implemented. In practice, this is almost always a fast path to failure because tools are often successful because of the culture that implemented the tool, not because of the culture the tool created. This is especially true in a large organization where the introduction of a new tool is often viewed as additive to what is already going on — another way to track or account for things. The key to introducing a new tool is looking at what is being abandoned in tools and processes, not what is being added.
• Choose org solutions that can work. Quite frequently a case study shows a weakness or hole organizationally. For example, a company that built a customer success team, or had a strong product management leader. An org solution is also a tool as above, but has the special dimension of needing to incorporate all the humans and personalities on a team. This generally leads to considering or adopting org solutions in case studies when they can conveniently work, which is not necessarily the best or only time.
• Spend money you actually have. Cast studies often show the advantages of implementing a sales or marketing campaign, allocating resources, price actions, or even executing M&A. These single decisions have the same solutions orientation as an artifact and so can be quite attractive. When a leader has access to such financial resources, then frequently the case studies supporting such approaches seem attractive. Each one of these involve so many other dimensions that are almost always unique to a situation. M&A venture integration is always easier on paper than in practice. Marketing campaigns are easy to kick off but result in pulling sales people in new directions, and so on.
• Validate choices you would have already made. All too often reading a case study is an after-the-fact way to validate a choice or decision that was going to be made anyway. When faced with a complex decision when you have a gut feel, there’s nothing more exciting than finding a company that seems to have the same problem and navigated to a solution. This is just a form of overly aggressive pattern matching, but one where you expand your own experience with the experience documented in a case study. The real challenge here is how you see the similarities and tend not to see the dissimilarities, but that’s where all the substance might be hiding out.

The theme for all of these cautions is to avoid the “form” of a case study unless you are really willing to understand and put to work the substance of a case study. Human nature and the complexities of leadership often cause us to pick the solutions that are not just ones that seem the best, but the ones that seem like they can be implemented. There’s often much more at work.

I am a huge fan of learning through cases, but I’ve also seen a lot of mis-learning through cases.

In particular, learning through the presentation of business situations and discussion in order to uncover the many competing forces within a given decision is super helpful. The unique aspect of learning by the formal case method is captured in the discussion more than in the documented (and edited) history of a decision or any specific artifacts. Learning from anecdotes, wisdom of mentors, or stories collected in business books can be equally valuable so long as you approach them with some caution. All the approaches of learning from cases have some cautions worth considering.

— Steven Sinofsky ( @stevesi )

PS: Most everything I learned in business and product development has some analogy or metaphor in Star Trek (original series of course).

Written by Steven Sinofsky

a16z • Box • Tanium • Product Hunt • Everlaw • ॐ • 🙏

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A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Case Study Investigation of the Academic, Athletic, Psychosocial and Psychological Impacts of Being of a Sport School Student Athlete

• Original Research Article
• Open access
• Published: 18 April 2024

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Ffion Thompson   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5515-7633 1 , 2 ,
• Fieke Rongen 3 ,
• Ian Cowburn 1 &
• Kevin Till 1 , 4  

Sport schools are popular environments for simultaneously delivering education and sport to young people. Previous research suggests sport school involvement to have impact (i.e. the positive/negative, intended/unintended and long/short-term outcomes, results and effects) on student athlete’s holistic (i.e. academic, athletic, psychosocial and psychological) development. However, previous research is limited by (1) cross-sectional methods, (2) limited multidimensional assessments, (3) lack of consideration for athlete characteristics (e.g. sex) and (4) failure to evaluate how sport school features affect student-athlete impacts.

The study, using a mixed methods case study approach, aims to (1) longitudinally evaluate the impact of sport school involvement on the holistic development of student athletes, (2) evaluate the impact on holistic development by student-athlete characteristics and (3) explore the features and processes of the sport–school programme that drive/facilitate holistic impacts.

A longitudinal mixed methods design was employed across one full academic school year (33 weeks). Six data-collection methods (i.e. online questionnaire, physical fitness testing battery, academic assessment grades, log diaries, field notes/observation and timeline diagram/illustration) were used to assess the academic, athletic, psychosocial and psychological impacts for 72 student athletes from one sport school in the United Kingdom (UK).

Student athletes developed positive long-term holistic overall impacts (i.e. academically, athletically and personally), including maintaining stable and relatively high levels of sport confidence, academic motivation, general recovery, life skills, resilience and friends, family and free time scores. Despite positive impacts, juggling academic and sport workload posed challenges for student athletes, having the potential to lead to negative holistic impacts (e.g. fatigue, stress and injury). Positive and negative impacts were linked to many potential features and processes of the sport school (e.g. academic and athletic support services versus insufficient training load build-up, communication, coordination, flexibility and planning). Furthermore, when considering student-athlete characteristics, females had lower sport confidence, higher general stress and body image concerns and less general recovery than males and student athletes who played sport outside the school had lower general recovery.

Conclusions

This mixed method, longitudinal study demonstrated sport school involvement resulted in many positive academic (e.g. good grades), athletic (e.g. fitness development), psychosocial (e.g. enhanced confidence) and psychological (e.g. improved resilience) impacts attributed to the academic and athletic support services provided. However, juggling heavy academic and athletic workloads posed challenges leading to negative impacts including fatigue, pressure, stress and injury. Furthermore, holistic impacts may be sex dependent and further support may be required for female student athletes in sport school environments. Overall, these findings demonstrate the complex nature of combining education and sport commitments and how sport schools should manage, monitor and evaluate the features of their programme to maximise the holistic impacts of sport–school student athletes.

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

1 Introduction

In response to the potential negative consequences associated with the intensification of youth sports programmes [e.g. 1 , 2 ] and the drive for a more holistic approach to youth athlete development [e.g. 3 ], there has been a cultural shift towards combining sport and education in supportive environments to appropriately prepare individuals for working life if they do not become professional athletes [ 4 ]. This type of approach is referred to as a ‘dual career’ (DC) approach (i.e. combining sporting pursuits alongside education or vocational endeavours). A DC approach has long been evident in the USA, where collegiate athletes pursue university education alongside elite performance in Olympic sports or before entering the draft system for professional sports (Ryba et al. 2015). However, it has recently become more prominent in the United Kingdom (UK, [ 5 ]). Morris et al. [ 6 ] further distinguishes between different dual career development environments (DCDEs; i.e. environments that support DC approaches) based on the different structures and approaches used to provide both athlete development and academic support.

One example of a DCDE that aims to cater for youth athletes’ holistic development is a sports school. Sport schools are a key environment for DC development in many countries and are considered an increasingly integral part of a nations’ elite sport performance strategy [ 7 ]. Sport schools aim to combine sport and education to offer student athletes considerable academic flexibility (e.g. adaptation of school and training schedules and lighter load by one subject) and athletic support (e.g. high-quality coaches and physiotherapy) [ 8 ]. Recently, Morris et al. [ 6 ] categorised two types of sport schools: sport-friendly and elite. Both sport-friendly schools and elite sport schools are situated in lower and upper general and vocational secondary education (i.e. International Standard Classification of Education level 2–5). However, unlike a sport-friendly school, an elite sport school has formal communication with a sport federation, often receiving funding [ 6 ].

While a DC approach holds promise for enhancing the development of school-aged athletes, it brings forth various potential challenges. These challenges include managing academic study and training alongside competition schedules, dealing with fatigue/lack of sleep and being forced to make personal sacrifices [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Consequently, despite the intention of sport schools to provide a platform for athletes to balance sport and education, the reality is that they introduce heightened demands, potentially subjecting student athletes to risks of burnout and injury, as identified in previous research on intensified youth sports (e.g. [ 1 , 12 ]).

The process of youth athletic development within a school is complex, as athletes experience psychological, physical and psychosocial growth in an environment where they are navigating competing sport, academic and social demands [ 13 ]. Consequently, sport school involvement will impact (i.e. the positive/negative, intended/unintended and long/short-term outcomes, results and effects) an individual’s holistic development across academic, athletic, psychosocial and psychological dimensions [ 3 , 14 ]. Recognizing the diverse and extensive potential impacts of DCDEs (such as sport schools), aligns with the overarching idea of examining student athletes holistically. This comprehensive perspective is vital in understanding and navigating the multifaceted impacts of sport schools on the developmental trajectory of individuals [ 3 , 14 ].

Increasingly, research has explored such impacts on holistic athlete development. A recent mixed methods systematic review [ 8 ] highlighted there are a multitude of immediate, short- and long-term positive (e.g. physical development, more stable levels of general health and well-being, status/popularity and life skills) and negative (e.g. lower higher education attainment, limited experience with ordinary life outside of competitive sport, high number of injuries and performance pressure) impacts associated with the athletic, academic, psychosocial and psychological development of sport school student athletes. However, this systematic review identified several limitations within the current evidence base, including: (1) limited research examining how sport-friendly school features are operationalised in different contexts (e.g. UK), (2) a failure to evaluate multi-dimensional domains of athlete impact, often focussing on one or two dimensions and (3) limited research evaluating how features affect athlete impacts (i.e. causal relationship between the characteristics and features of sport school and holistic athlete impacts).

Subsequently, two studies [ 15 , 16 ] assessed the impacts of a UK sport-friendly school on student athletes across all four domains of holistic athlete development (i.e. academic, athletic, psychosocial and psychological). Overall, the findings of both studies demonstrated a multitude of positive impacts associated with being a sport school student athlete but, also, impacts of concern. However, both studies were cross-sectional in nature (i.e. use of a single moment of measurement), where exposure and impacts were simultaneous. Consequently, these studies oppose the nature of ‘transition’ as a process and the dynamic nature of sport-friendly school environments. Therefore, longitudinal research designs are required to investigate student-athlete development or changes over time. Additionally, although Thompson et al. [ 15 , 16 ] provided a general overview of the features and multiple possible impacts of sport school involvement, it is important to note that not every athlete experienced every potential impact. Instead, impacts varied across individuals and were driven by their individual characteristics and experiences of sport school features over time. Sport schools would benefit from an approach that is aware of individual differences and how they may impact a student athlete’s journey. Accordingly, it is important to explore the specificity of athlete characteristics/variables (e.g. biological sex) as holistic impacts may vary considerably depending upon an athlete's sex, sport requirements and boarding status [ 17 , 18 , 19 ].

Finally, given the complex and dynamic nature of DC environments [ 20 ], where student athletes have to interact with coaches, programme culture and practices, research needs to explore the features and processes (i.e. the context-individual interactions) of sport-friendly school programmes that drive and facilitate positive and negative holistic impacts described by Thompson and colleagues [ 15 , 16 ]. Moreover, within the UK, there are substantially more sport-friendly schools, with only one identified example of an elite sport school found in Scotland [ 5 ]. Sport-friendly schools in the UK tend to be more independent than the systemic approach in other countries (e.g. Germany and Sweden [ 21 ]). In the UK, the development of a sport-friendly school is primarily a matter for individual schools and is often pursued as part of a strategy to create a distinct identity. As a result, it is important to investigate the individual context of a sport-friendly school within the UK as a case study.

Based on the above, this study, using a mixed methods longitudinal case study design, aims to (1) longitudinally evaluate the impact of sport-friendly school involvement on the holistic (i.e. academic, athletic, psychological and psycho-social) development of student athletes, (2) evaluate the impact on holistic development by athlete characteristics (i.e. sex, boarding status and external sport involvement) and (3) explore the features and processes of the sport-friendly school programme that drive/facilitate positive and negative holistic impacts.

2.1 Research Approach

This study was aligned with and guided by a critical realist (CR) perspective. In line with North’s [ 22 ] perspective on CR, this study was guided by the principles of developing theory (i.e. first understanding of sport schools impacts, then, second, developing an understanding of ‘how,’ ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘for whom’). As such, the researcher first engaged in contextual description (aims 1 and 2), then, second, started to develop an understanding/explanation of how observed patterns were generated (aim 3). To help achieve the study aims, this study adopted a concurrent mixed methods approach (i.e. qualitative and quantitative data collected simultaneously [ 23 ]). This design aims to create mutually exclusive sets of data that inform each other [ 24 ]. Furthermore, the qualitative and quantitative data were analysed separately but then integrated to cross-validate findings. Finally, in line with the CR stance of establishing ‘how’, ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘for whom’, Pawson and Tilley's [ 25 ] and Yin’s [ 26 ] guiding principles for an explorative case study approach were used.

2.2 Positionality of the Researchers

It is also important to acknowledge the collective roles of the researchers’ autobiographies, values and beliefs in describing, designing and interpreting the findings [ 27 ]. To acknowledge this, we consciously outline them to help appreciate and evaluate the results in nuanced ways [ 28 ]. The first author, F.T., collected the data and was lead on the analysis and writing. As the school’s lead strength and conditioning (SC) coach and a previous student athlete at a different sport-friendly school for 5 years, this would have inevitably shaped the primary researchers’ conceptions and influenced the study’s initial framing, design and analysis. Furthermore, the collective experiences of the remainder of the research team will have contributed to the interpretation of the data and shaping of the results. Combined, K.T., F.R. and I.C. have over 30 years of research and applied experience within athlete development systems.

2.3 Context of Study

One sport-friendly school (pseudonym ‘Nunwick High’) was selected for the study based on Morris et al.’s [ 6 ] definition of a sport-friendly school. The selection of ‘Nunwick High’ was information-oriented and opportunistic. ‘Nunwick High’ has 8 years of experience providing DC support through a performance sport pathway embedded within a UK independent school. ‘Nunwick High’ has eight performance sports as part of its performance programmes: athletics, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rugby and swimming, targeted at year groups 7–13 (aged 12–18 years). Each student athlete enrolled on ‘Nunwick High’ performance sport programme receives a place to study, train and, in some cases, live during their lower and upper secondary school years, including access to learning facilities, a sport science centre, a sport treatment centre, sport facilities, accommodation buildings and a canteen all in one proximity (single campus). Based on the information above, ‘Nunwick High’ represented an established and mature environment that should be a rich source of information.

2.4 Participants

Participants had to meet the following inclusion criteria: participate as a student athlete in one of the performance sport programmes within ‘Nunwick High’ and be aged 16 or above (years 12–13). Years 12–13 were chosen specifically, as during this stage student athletes are transitioning to a more intense and structured period of athletic development [ 29 , 30 ], and increased educational demands, with the consequence that the management of their DC, is a distinct concern. A total of 72 student athletes (mean age 17.29 ± 0.52 years, 48 male and 24 female) participated in the study. At baseline (T1) the student athletes had been attending and competing at ‘Nunwick High’ for an average of 1.2 ± 1.5 years (range from 2 weeks to 7 years). Out of the 72 student athletes, 31 were boarders (i.e. live at the school) and 41 were non-boarders, 31 played sport externally to the sport-friendly school and 41 only played sport for the sport-friendly school, representing the following sport: athletics ( n  = 4), cricket ( n  = 4), hockey ( n  = 12), netball ( n  = 9), football ( n  = 18), rugby ( n  = 15) and basketball ( n  = 10).

2.5 Study Design

A longitudinal mixed methods case study design was employed across one full academic school year (33 weeks). To engage in a comprehensive and holistic investigation of the impacts of being a sport-friendly school student athlete and the features and processes that drive/facilitate such impacts, six data-collection methods were utilised: (1) online questionnaire, (2) physical fitness testing battery, (3) academic assessment grades, (4) log diaries, (5) field notes/observation and (6) timeline diagram/illustration.

The online questionnaire occurred over five data collection periods (Q1, September; Q2, November/December; Q3, February; Q4, March; and Q5, May). The physical fitness testing battery occurred over three data collection periods (PFT1, September; PFT2, December; and PFT3, March/April). The academic assessment grades occurred across four data collection periods (A1, October; A2, December; A3, February; and A4, June). The log diary occurred over four data collection periods (L1, October; L2, December; L3, January; and L5, March). The observational research was ongoing throughout the whole academic year (33 weeks). Finally, the timeline diagram/illustration was collected once at the end of the academic year. Figure  1 provides an overview of the data collection timeline. The university sub-ethics committee granted this study (ref. 86728) with online informed assent and parental written consent obtained.

Overview of data collection points at the sport-friendly school

2.6 Measures

2.6.1 online questionnaire.

Data collection involved participants completing an online questionnaire (predicted completion time, 29 min) that provided a multi-dimensional assessment of holistic athlete impacts identified in previous literature [ 8 , 15 , 16 ]. The online questionnaire comprised of 12 domains (i.e. academic and sport workload, difficulty balancing sport and academics, academic support and satisfaction, injury and illness, rest and recovery, body image, family, free time and friends; sport competence; sport confidence; life skills, dual career motivation and resilience) as presented in Table  1 . The questionnaire was conducted in a quiet room, and student athletes were allowed sufficient breaks when required and were allowed to return to the questionnaire at a later time within the same day. Further, open-ended questions were used to help expand on responses to close-ended questions [ 31 ], providing further information on the features and processes that drove/facilitated specific impacts. All questionnaires were collected across all timepoints (T1–T5) apart from The Life Skills Scale for Sport (LSSS) questionnaire which was added in from T2 as the LSSS requires participants to rate how much their environmental exposure has taught them to perform the skills listed within the questionnaire and a baseline value was not appropriate. Completion rates: 97% for Q1, 90% for Q2, 94%for Q3, 93% for Q4 and 99% Q5.

2.6.2 Academic Assessments Grades

To assess educational attainment, termly academic subject assessment grades were extracted from the school administrative system. As all student athletes were in years 12–13, and grades were provided in the UK national curriculum grading format for Advanced level (A-level) and Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) qualifications. To adequately compare BTEC and A-level grades, in addition to statistical purposes, academic assessment grades were converted to a number using a school grades translation matrix in Table  2 (similar to [ 58 ]). After conversion, an average of each individual’s subject score was calculated to get one overall academic assessment score for each student athletes. Completion rates: 96% for A1, 90% for A2, 94% for A3 and 94% for A4.

2.6.3 Physical Fitness Testing Battery

To assess physical development, a fitness testing battery which included; lower-body power, strength, speed and cardiovascular fitness tests were conducted in line with previous studies [ 59 ]. Speed was reported at 10 and 40 m distances [ 60 ], lower-body power was reported using countermovement jump (CMJ) height (m) and strength was reported using the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) [ 61 , 62 ,– 63 ] peak force (kg) and relative peak force (kg −1 ) measures. The fitness testing battery was conducted over 2 weeks. In week 1, subjects performed measures of strength via the IMTP and power via the CMJ. In week 2, field-based measures of 10–40 m sprints were performed to measure acceleration and max velocity. On all testing days, the test causing the greatest strain on the neuromuscular system was performed first to enhance the reliability of all maximal testing procedures [ 64 ]. Completion rates: 97% for PFT1, 96% for PFT2 and 97% for PFT3.

2.6.4 Log Diary

Student athletes were asked to fill in a log diary across four timepoints in the academic year consisting of open-ended questions that explored the positive and negative holistic impacts and any features and processes of the sport-friendly school that caused, attributed or drove these impacts. Open-ended questions allowed the respondents to express opinions without being influenced by the researcher [ 65 ]. For example, student athletes were asked to reflect on the last month and outline the positive and negative impacts they had experienced on their athletic/physical, academic, psychosocial and psychological development. Furthermore, open-ended questions allowed respondents to include more contextual information, giving more feedback on the features and processes of the sport-friendly school programme that drove/facilitated positive student athlete holistic impacts [ 31 ]. For example, student athletes were asked to outline what caused, attributed or drove these impacts/outcomes to happen (e.g. what characteristics, features or processes?). Completion rates: 24% for L1, 42% for L2, 38% for L3 and 38% for L4.

2.6.5 Observational Field Notes

To achieve contextual sensitivity, emphasis was placed on participant observation of the daily lives of the student athletes in their natural setting as an essential method of data collection [ 66 ]. Over the 33-week academic term, the primary researcher completed observational field notes throughout each academic day relating to objective observations and conversations and subjective reflections of the actions, behaviours and interactions observed at ‘Nunwick High’ [ 67 , 68 ]. Observations were made from a holistic viewpoint, generally attuned to the broader context of the school, including context-individual interactions and processes between sport school features and holistic athlete impacts. Notes were also taken on specific coaching actions and behaviours, individual participant experiences and the interactions observed between student athletes, coaches and teachers. The observations enhanced the researcher’s understanding of the ‘Nunwick High’ context and student athletes’ holistic development [ 68 ].

2.6.6 Timeline Diagram/Illustration

At the end of the academic year, a convenience sample of 15 participants (mixture of sport and sex) were chosen to complete a timeline diagram/illustration visualising and displaying their personal experiences of the fluctuations in academic stress and sport workload across the academic year. Within the group, each individual was asked to draw a graph representing their academic stress and sport workload across different periods of the academic year (term 1 to term 6). In addition, they were asked to highlight the key academic assessment periods across this time period. After the student athletes completed their timeline, they described and discussed their diagrams as a group, providing personal explanations and rationale for the timelines they had drawn with the primary researcher who wrote down additional notes. Successively, findings (from both quantitative and qualitative data) were fed back to participants and an opportunity was given for participants to elaborate and provide more contextual information on the findings. The data were then integrated as part of the results, complementing and enriching the data generated in the TA [ 69 ]. Although the researcher made sure to keep the discussion on topic, as well as reiterate that there were no right or wrong viewpoints [ 70 ], the direction of the discussion was driven by the student athletes. This form of research has been used in previous studies [e.g., 71 ] and provided student athletes with a sense of engagement and ownership over the research process.

2.7 Data Analysis

2.7.1 aims 1 and 2 data analysis, 2.7.1.1 quantitative analysis.

To address research aims 1 and 2, two generalised mixed models were conducted using R (Version 4.1.3). The first model (addressing aim 1) assessed the changes in impacts across the school year (33 weeks). The change in score of each holistic variable was used as the dependent variable, with time (i.e. Q1–Q5, PFT1–PFT3 and A1–A3) added as the fixed factor. Individual participants and sport were used as covariates (random factors). The second model (addressing aim 2) considered the specificity of athlete characteristics. Each holistic variable was used as the dependent variable, with biological sex (female versus male), living status (border versus non-boarder) and external sport commitment (a student athlete who played sport externally to the sport-friendly school versus a student athlete who only played sport for the sport-friendly school) added as fixed factors. Individual participants and sport were again used as covariates (random factors). The p -value was set at 0.05. Injury and illness incidence rates were processed separately using Excel (Microsoft Office 2021) and described using percentages with frequencies due to being bi-nominal data.

2.7.1.2 Qualitative Analysis

Alongside the quantitative data, qualitative data were used to evaluate the impacts of sport-friendly school involvement. The data was coded using a largely deductive approach [ 72 ]. First, during the preparation phase, qualitative data was organised and managed into categories to be analysed together (i.e. log diaries, open-ended questionnaires and observation field notes and timeline diagram/illustration transcripts) and the primary researcher obtained a sense of the whole data through reading the transcripts several times. Next, during the organisational phase, data were generated through coding [ 73 ]. Our coding approach was deductive in nature as most codes were generated through the available systematic review [ 8 ] and the online questionnaire items (refer to Table  1 ). Inductive coding was used as new themes specific to the holistic impacts of student athletes and any specificity of athlete characteristics were identified during the coding process.

2.7.1.3 Triangulation

Given that quantitative and qualitative methods were used to investigate the same holistic student athlete impacts, the data for analysis were compatible for integration using the process of triangulation resulting in the creation of a number of themes [ 74 , 75 ]. As part of this process, the primary researcher compared the findings from the quantitative and qualitative analysis and considered where the findings from each method agree (converge), offer complementary information on the same issue (complementarity) or appear to contrast each other (discrepancy or dissonance) [ 75 ]. Subsequently, the assessment of convergency, complementary and discrepancy were discussed among the authors to (1) clarify interpretations of the findings and (2) determine the degree of agreement among researchers on triangulated findings [ 75 ]. Finally, after refining the themes, the primary researcher defined and named the themes.

2.7.2 Aim 3 Data Analysis

Aim 3 aimed to provide a more explanatory (i.e. seeking to explain the causes of phenomena) approach to research [ 76 ]. As such, Fryers’ [ 77 ] five-step CR approach to thematic analysis (TA) was used to analyse the qualitative data (i.e. log diaries, open-ended questionnaires, observation field notes and timeline diagram/illustration transcripts). As part of the first stage of TA, the primary author clearly outlined and refined the research aim and objective (i.e. explore the features and processes of the sport-friendly school programme that drive/facilitate positive and negative holistic impacts). In the second stage, the primary author immersed herself in the data by reading and re-reading texts to familiarise themselves with the findings and make notes on the initial thoughts and questions. Following familiarisation, stage three consisted of applying, developing and reviewing codes (step 3 [ 77 ]). Descriptive codes were applied to segments of qualitative text that were considered relevant to the research aims (e.g. features and processes of ‘Nunwick High’). Following the development of codes, step 4 entailed grouping all codes into themes [ 77 ]. Explanations were developed to suggest how particular features and processes of ‘Nunwick High’ produce the holistic impacts evidenced in the data (i.e., aims 1). Finally, within stage five [ 77 ], reflections on the overall analysis were discussed and reviewed among the research team, with a particular focus on checking the plausibility of the explanations against pre-existing evidence (i.e. in the data as well as existing theory).

2.8 Establishing Research Rigour

Following recent recommendations, Hirose and Creswell’s [ 78 ] six core quality criteria for mixed methods studies are proposed as useful in judging the rigour of the current study. First, the authors have outlined a clear rationale for the use and appropriateness of mixed methods methodology in this study (i.e. criteria 1). Second, throughout the design included specific quantitative (e.g. What are the impacts of sport school involvement on the physical development of athletes?), qualitative (e.g. Can you tell us about the balance between sport and school?) and mixed methods (e.g. How were changes in personal development brought about by the environment?) questions (i.e. criteria 2). Third, it has been clearly outlined which elements of data collection resulted in quantitative and qualitative data, as well as how each type of data was analysed. Furthermore, quantitative data are clearly presented in Table  3 , and qualitative data have been represented in direct quotes throughout the results (i.e. criteria 3). The mixed methods research design has been identified along with a diagram of data-collection moments (i.e. criterion 4). Fifth, the authors have clearly outlined how data-integration has taken place, this is then evidenced throughout the results and Fig.  3 captures a display of how findings have been integrated (i.e. criterion 5). The integration of data resulted in added value, as it allowed the authors to highlight similarities and differences between quantitative and qualitative findings throughout the results, providing a more nuanced understanding of the holistic impact of sport school involvement. Furthermore, the notion of meta-inferences (i.e. inferences that draw on both quantitative, qualitative and transcend both databases or what does it all mean together), fit very well with the CR stance of the study and the analytical process employed to formulate initial theories (i.e. explanations) as to how things worked within this sport school context (i.e. criterion 6). Finally, further in line with the CR philosophical underpinnings and aims [ 79 ], we also invite the reader to judge the findings presented in terms of their plausibility (i.e. do the offered explanations make sense, both in light of the presented data and the existing research literature) and utility (i.e. how well the research account offers predictions for likely outcomes and can be used to guide practical actions in the real world).

In line with the study’s aims, the results are presented in three higher-order themes: (3.1) longitudinal investigation of student-athlete holistic impacts, (3.2) specificity of athlete characteristics and (3.3) features and processes of the sport-friendly school program (i.e. what worked for whom and how).

3.1 Longitudinal Investigation of Student-Athlete Holistic Impacts

The triangulated holistic student-athlete impacts are presented below. Table 3 presents the quantitative statistical results for each impact at each timepoint. Furthermore, differences in student-athlete characteristics (i.e. sex, boarding and external sport) are presented. The descriptions below triangulate the quantitative and qualitative data within key themes to present the longitudinal holistic impacts.

3.1.1 Fluctuations in Academic and Sports Workload Over-time Culminate in a Variety of Impacts

Table 3 presents how sports training, competition frequency and the number of rest days changed across the academic year. Sport training and competition frequency significantly decreased in March and May (1.57–2.22 h/week and 0.49–1.14 competitions/week) compared with September–February (8.84–10.23 h/week and 1.86–2.26 competitions/week). Significantly more rest days were experienced during May (~ 2.00 per week) than in the other periods. This finding is supported by the student athletes’ timeline diagrams/illustrations whereby most student athletes’ sport workload was typically high across terms 1–4, with a drop off in terms 5 and 6. In contrast, for summer sports such as cricket and athletics, the highest sport workload appeared in term 6 when they were also doing their final academic examinations, as exemplified by a summer sport student athlete when talking about term 6: “I think for [summer sport] it is hard. We literally will have three games a week and two exams a week”.

Fluctuating patterns were also shown for academic hours (represented by hours spent in academic lessons plus hours doing home work) and number of lessons missed. Academic hours were significantly lower during November/December and February (23.6–26.7 h/week) and highest in September and May (~ 28 h/week), which coincided with the number of lessons missed (i.e. more lessons missed in November–February than September–May). Furthermore, when the student athletes were describing their timelines, they highlighted three time periods that could be considered the most stressful from an academic perspective: (1) the second week back after the Christmas break (mock exam week), (2) the final 2 weeks before Easter (final coursework deadlines) and (3) the whole of terms 5 and 6 (final academic examinations).

3.1.1.1 Periods of Difficulty Balancing Dual Demands and Changes in Stress and Recovery

Student athletes found balancing academic and sports workload significantly harder during November–March (3.22–3.34) and easiest during May (2.43). When student athletes were describing their timelines, they described a constant oscillation between periods of high academic stress (e.g. assessment time, mocks and exams) and high sport workload (e.g. busy fixture list, major tournaments and finals), with them often coinciding, resulting in increased stress and pressure.

“So, at the moment it is fine, but now gradually, academics are getting a lot more pressure on and the fixtures start to go like that again [demonstrated a steep incline with hand]. And then there is not really a break till March and by then should be absolutely ready for your A-levels and you are behind. Still revising some topics”.

Although student athletes’ general stress stayed stable across the academic year (no significant change across September to May), sport-specific stress levels varied across different time periods (highest in February and lowest in May). Regarding recovery, although general recovery stayed relatively stable across the academic year, sport-specific recovery was significantly lower in February compared with September (implying that student athletes were not recovering as well from sports during February compared with September).

3.1.1.2 Fatigue Accumulation, Culminating in Student-Athletic De-motivation

At the beginning of the academic year (September), student athletes were exposed to an immediate high academic and physical workload (i.e. 9.93 training hours/week and 28.1 academic hours/week). Additionally, from a physical fitness perspective, student athletes are physically less fit. Overall, the initial challenges (i.e. demanding schedule) and lack of physical fitness appeared to result in student athletes feeling fatigued, both mentally and physically at the start of the academic year. For example, a student athlete stated in their log diary 3 weeks into term 1:

“I’m keeping up with my school work but the workload is high due to not having free periods (because I play sport). I feel motivated to improve in both my academics and my sport. I am finding myself feeling more tired during the week but this is probably a combination of higher amounts of physical activity and not going to bed early enough.”

The feeling of fatigue was a common impact across the academic year. The student athletes frequently stated in their log diary that they were ‘always tired’, as exemplified by this student athlete: “I always want to sleep”. This impact was further exaggerated for student athletes with increased academic demands (e.g. undertaking four A-levels versus three), as exemplified by one student athlete’s log diary:

“The workload is high because I am taking 4 A-levels as well as doing my sport throughout the day- this means I have less time in school to complete work set and have to do the majority of it at home. This can build up and occasionally I find myself working until late which is leaving me feeling tired in the morning”.

Finally, there seemed to be an accumulative build-up of fatigue towards the end of each academic term and year. From a conversation with one of the coaches at the end of term 2, they stated: “This time of year everything changes. Kids getting tired, we are getting tired and boredom setting in”. The effect of fatigue on student athletes’ academic work was further elaborated on in a conversation with a student athlete: “I think there is enough time to do your work, it is just not enough time where you are not tired. You come home and you are knackered you don’t want to do work.” The student athletes described becoming demotivated during the end of term with a lack of physical development. “I plateaued. I started hating [sport]. I wasn’t improving, I was tired, I was stressed. To the point where I didn’t enjoy it”.

The feelings of de-motivation and mental and physical fatigue were further exaggerated in terms 5 and 6. A student athlete stated: “It is a bit burnout. You go, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom and now you just feel like flat”. By terms 5 and 6, student athletes appeared to have a lack of motivation and burnout for performance sports (consistent with student athletic motivation score, which was significantly lower in May), where student athletes wanted a period of unstructured training and time away from the performance environment.

“The last summer term with exams. I remember that first weekend after school finished, I literally couldn’t do anything else. I was so tired, like mentally and physically. And then I dunno, the feeling was awful”.

3.1.1.3 Immediate and Multiple Stresses

New student athletes at ‘Nunwick High’ experienced increased stress and pressure from an immediate intensive level of training and increased academic demands. In addition, they reported emotional and social stress from moving away from home, family and friends into a new environment. For example, from conversations with new student athletes who had transitioned into the school, they stated that they found the workload (both academic and physical) ‘a lot more’ than previous experiences. “You’re sort of chucked straight into it and expected to do everything basically. It is quite intense and a lot asked of you. Kind of have to do it and get it done”.

Then across the academic year at ‘Nunwick High’ there was evidence of three types of stressors: (1) Competitive stressors related to the demanding game schedules. “The upcoming matches that have been occurring have caused me to become more stressed”. (2) Organisational stressors from commitments to school sport balance.

“But I think sometimes, yeah it happens, but you are not enjoying it, it doesn’t become enjoyable it just becomes stressful. To go to a match and then come back and do your work. It is then not an enjoyable period”.

Finally, (3) Personal stressors when student athletes sacrifice social life for sport.

“I’m not as social as I was at the beginning of the year, I think this is due to the stress given by school. I feel as though I need to spend more time doing school work compared to socialising”.

However, contradictory to the personal stressors, student athletes’ friends and family and free time KIDSCREEN-27 Health Questionnaire scores stayed stable across the academic year.

3.1.1.4 Despite Challenges and Academic Pressure, Student Athletes Generally Achieved Good Academic Grades

As highlighted above, student athletes experienced challenges across the academic year (e.g. demanding schedule, fatigue and multiple stressors), in addition to academic pressure, as highlighted by a student athlete, “for me, academic pressure is a really big thing, because I am really scared, I am going to let it slip accidently”. Despite these challenges, overall, academic grades stayed relatively stable across the academic year (4.29–4.57), with only June significantly higher than October. This finding coincides with the fact that academic motivation also stayed stable across the academic year (4.78–4.88). This is further supported by the qualitative data which highlighted that student athletes at ‘Nunwick High’ generally achieved good academic grades. According to the log diaries, although some challenges around managing the multiple demands on their time were highlighted, most student athletes were generally happy with their academic development across the year: “I think I have developed academically in my exams; I have improved consistently throughout the year”.

3.1.2 Sport Performance Development and Well-Being Across the Year

As highlighted in the previous theme (3.1.1.2) student athletes are physically less fit at the beginning of the academic year. However, over time there were significant improvements in IMTP strength (123.3 kg September and 160.6 kg in March/April), CMJ height (34.3 cm in September and 36.5 cm in March/April) and 40 m max velocity (only September–December), whilst 10 m acceleration stayed stable.

Sport confidence was stable across the academic year (no significant change from September to May). However, there was a significant decrease in student athletes’ perceived sport competence during February (3.40) compared with September–December (3.59–3.58). Sport competence then recovered between February to May but not compared with September–December levels. This data contradicts the qualitative findings whereby student athletes largely expressed how being involved in the performance sports programme had resulted in them becoming better at their sport. They stated in their log diaries that they could see improvements in their physical, technical and tactical development and overall sporting performance across the academic year.

“My athletic development has gradually improved over time during all of the training and sessions. My physical development has improved slightly as well, especially with things like speed and size. My personal fitness has improved from the training and has encouraged me to do more out of the sessions”.

When evaluating injury and illness, injury incidence was higher than illness incidence. The greatest number of injuries occurred in November/December (47%), with the lowest injury incidence in May (23%). Illness incidence was highest in September (31%) and lowest in May (11%). Finally, although there was no significant difference or change in the student athletes’ EAT-26 score across the academic year and average scores were below 10, there were student athletes who scored ≥ 10, signifying disordered eating behaviour and attitude.

3.1.3 Personal Development

Student athletes also reported to have developed personally, although LSSS (3.51–3.56) and resilience (3.29–3.39) scores stayed stable across the academic year (no significant change across September–May). Through the qualitative data many student athletes emphasised they had developed a range of life skills and attitudes they could use both within and outside of sport. For example, they felt they had become more confident and developed their communication, social integration ability, social skills, work ethic, motivation, time-management skills, teamwork and leadership skills, in addition to becoming more independent, resilient, disciplined, mature and responsible adults. Student athletes highlighted these developments in their log diaries and through conversations with the primary researcher:

Student athlete 1: “Allowed me to develop my motivational skills. Training more and work in the gym helped to develop my social skills and my physical and mental abilities of perseverance during training and during my school work”.

Student athlete 2: “We talked about balancing a lot and if you are doing sport and academics, you kind of naturally build the skill of time-management and balancing stuff. I have got sport and A-levels as well, so I kind of have to think about time management as well. So, after I finish my sport, I know I need to go home and complete my prep. So, I kind of manage my day to get it all done”.

3.2 Specificity of Athlete Characteristics

There was no significant difference between boarders and non-boarders across all variables. For sex, females had significantly fewer weekly competitions than males. Female sport confidence scores and general recovery scores were significantly lower (− 0.68, − 0.47) and general stress and EAT-26 scores were significantly higher (+ 1.03, + 9.28) than males. Finally, females had significantly lower CMJ (− 10.49 cm) and IMTP (− 50.96 kg) and significantly slower 40 m max velocity (+ 0.93 s) scores than males. Internal sport-only student athletes had significantly less training (− 2.30 h/week) and competitions (− 1.42 number/week) and more rest days (0.52 number/week) per week compared with external sport student athletes. However, internal-only student athletes’ general recovery was significantly lower (− 0.32), which contradicts the qualitative findings where student athletes who played sports externally and for the sport-friendly school expressed feeling particularly fatigued and lacking rest and recovery.

3.3 Features and Processes of the Sport-Friendly School Program

While the primary aim of this study is to evaluate sports school holistic impacts, the third aim is to gain insight into the context-individual interactions underpinning them (i.e. features and processes). Accordingly, this section aims to provide a narrative overview describing insights into particular features and processes of ‘Nunwick High’.

3.3.1 Importance of Personal Motivation, Value of Education and Academic Support Services

Student athletes stated that they achieved good academic grades due to developing their personal motivation, organisational skills and commitment (i.e. hard work ethic, determination, self-motivation, developing a revision routine and creating a timetable of free time to balance workload), as highlighted in a student athletes log diary: “My work ethic and motivation have improved, which has caused me to work harder and put in more effort. I am not afraid to ask questions anymore to help me understand”.

Secondly, coach support was highlighted to assist student athletes’ academic development. There appeared to be flexibility with sports training and support from the coaches around the periods of high academic stress (i.e. student athletes were allowed to miss training sessions to do work), as exemplified by a student athlete: “Since my coaches have understood about me wanting to focus on my work, sometimes it has been helpful as I know that they support me”.

Finally, the student athletes received extra academic support. Teachers and fellow pupils provided extra tutoring (i.e. one-to-one help) in their own time. Teachers provided subject and revision clinics, and ‘Nunwick High’ had a learning development department. The extra academic support provided is demonstrated in the following quote from a student athlete’s log diary:

“Getting help from teachers—one-to-one help. Clinic revision—weekly revision after school to revise through any topics that I am not comfortable with. Microsoft Teams—online teams in which I can message my teachers directly whenever I am stuck”.

3.3.2 Performance Sports Program with Direct Sport-Related Practices, Staff and Support Services

‘Nunwick High’ was reported and observed as having high-quality facilities, fixtures, coaching staff and training partners. Student athletes had access to professional, high-quality facilities (e.g. a fully equipped gym, pool, indoor three-court sports hall and numerous astroturfs and grass fields). The performance sports program arranged high-level fixtures against top opposition (e.g. academy teams, high-level clubs and top sports schools). As a result, the student athletes were challenged technically, tactically, physically and psychologically against high-level opposition, as attributed by a student athlete in their log diary: “Recent fixtures, tournaments and matches have positively impacted my development, lifting to my maximum potential and pushing myself in court sessions”. Moreover, ‘Nunwick High’ employed high-quality coaches who could provide expert coaching, support and education to enhance the sporting development of the student athletes further. ‘Nunwick High’ was also described as attracting a big pool of talented student athletes providing high-quality training partners/teammates who acted as influential mentors—providing a high-quality training and learning environment where student athletes pushed their peers to be better and develop from one another. For example, a student athlete stated in their log diary:

“My skill and physical capabilities have improved drastically over the past month as the combination of regular strength and conditioning sessions as well as daily access to an indoor basketball court and high-quality players and coaching staff has driven me to become a completely different basketball player”.

As highlighted in the qualitative and quantitative data, the student athletes trained regularly across the year. As a result, the student athletes had more opportunities to practice, play and develop in their sport. For example, a student athlete stated they had ‘developed as a player’ and that this was due to ‘training every day and having games regularly’.

‘Nunwick High’ also had a multi-disciplinary sports staff as part of the performance sports program (i.e. SC, physiotherapist and nutritionist). The student athletes had designated and regular SC sessions within their school timetable, where the SC staff provided them with tailored and sport-specific physical development programs. Additionally, the SC staff provided additional athletic and physical development resources (e.g. cardiovascular fitness sessions, advice on recovery, mobility sessions) and put on recovery sessions (e.g. stretching/yoga). This support was deemed to positively support the student athlete’s athletic and physical development. For example, a student athlete, when answering in their log diary what was the driving factor for their improved athletic and physical development, stated:

“I have had a personal SC programme fitted to what will help me make the biggest impact on my sport; this has been essential for me and helped me to push hard, knowing that my interests are being taken care of and frequently adapted to fit my needs and any progress that I make”.

Whilst another student athlete stated the support available when injured:

“Due to an injury, I haven’t been able to train as often as normal on the pitch; however, the programme has still been able to help me develop during this time. I have had a lot of physio sessions which have helped me understand what is wrong with me, and the physio works closely with the SC staff, who are then able to provide me with stretches related to my injury as well as exercises that help my performance whilst taking into consideration my injury/limitations”.

3.3.3 Because the Environment Demanded It

The requirement to take accountability and responsibility, live away from home, and the busy schedule of sports and academics required student athletes to manage themselves effectively, become better at managing multiple demands and be disciplined.

“Time-management as well. You don’t necessarily get taught it. But you learn it by having such a busy schedule. You have to work out what to do when”.

The school strongly focused on giving the players accountability and responsibility for their academic and sport development. As described above, an environment was witnessed where the student athletes were given the relevant tools to help aid their sporting development and academic development. The student athletes were responsible for using these resources and maximising the opportunities in their own time.

“Environment where everything the athletes need is available to them (e.g. video from games, SC, yoga, extra sessions, academic support, pastoral care), but although the athletes are encouraged to utilise everything that is on offer to them, it is the athlete’s responsibility on how they use their time and if they utilise their time here effectively”. [Field note, 03/02/2022]

However, there was a lack of upskilling to allow student athletes to maximise their development, particularly in managing their time effectively. The student athletes felt that sometimes, the staff presumed they had the relevant skills without providing them with the tools to facilitate appropriate ownership of their development (i.e. feeling left to their own devices). For example, student athletes stated the following comments when talking about taking responsibility:

Student athlete 1: “I think they just expect you to be more organised, to be able to fit your sport in”.

Student athlete 2: “What we get offered here, most of us haven't been exposed to it before coming here. Then you are expected to know how to use it. When a lot of people don’t. So, then they don’t get the most out of as they can do”.

Furthermore, the additional work student athletes were expected to do in their own time (e.g. clip their own video) adds to their workload, providing further conflicts with their academic study and personal time.

“Yeah, like no one tells you to go and watch the video. But I like to watch it and see what happens and see why we lost to [team]. But then that is an hour, hour and a half of Thursday when the video comes out. So that is when I should be working”.

3.3.4 Lack of Organisation and Planning of Training Load

When the student athletes first joined the performance sport programme in the sixth form, they transitioned into an intensive level of training. There was no preseason at the sport-friendly school, so the student athletes were immediately exposed to a high physical workload. Furthermore, first-team fixtures were organised within the second week of the term. When asked if the student athletes liked having fixtures within the second week of term, there was an overwhelming ‘no’ feeling. Student athletes stated they were ‘not adequately prepared’ and ‘had not had enough training time together’.

Additionally, from a physical fitness perspective, when student athletes transitioned into ‘Nunwick High’, or returned at the beginning of the academic year, they felt physically ill prepared for the immediate, intense training load. Through pre-season physical fitness testing, the primary researcher observed student athletes coming back from the summer holidays with lower physical fitness levels than expected.

“Just completed 30–15 running fitness test with [sport]. Generally, the student athlete’s cardiovascular fitness scores are lower than I would expect them to be at the beginning of the year in comparison to normative, expected data for their sport”. [Field note, 07/09/2021]

Coaches, in conversation with the researcher, emphasised that at the beginning of the year ‘students were not fit enough’. A student athlete further highlighted this comment when talking about the initial start of term: “And also, our fitness isn’t as good as it would have been after training all the time at school. So, I think we are lot more unfit as a lot of us don’t train outside of school”.

Within an academic year at ‘Nunwick High’, no periodised planning, tapering or deload was scheduled within the performance sport programme across a term. The primary researcher observed a lack of balance between high training loads followed by intentional low training loads (i.e. deload/tapering weeks).

“Season at [Nunwick High] is very full on and intense the whole time. There is no periodised planning, tapering or deload week within the term or season. This is resulting in kids being exhausted by the last 2 weeks”. [Field note, 15/03/2022] “Sometimes, I think we over train. Like having 2 h on Wednesday, then another 2 h on Thursday. Then an hour on Monday, SC on Tuesday and another SC on Friday. With no recovery. You know, it is really intense”.

Despite the benefit of offering high-quality competition from a sporting development point of view, ‘Nunwick High’ appeared to enter every competition, league and cup and has an extensive list of friendly competitions. As a result, some sports teams had two (on the rare occasion, three) internal sports fixtures a week (not considering the fixtures some student athletes have externally outside of school), leading to potential fixture congestion. Based on observations and log diaries, the extensive fixture list appeared to put further pressure on student athletes academically, as they missed many lessons and were fatigued. As exemplified by a student athlete in their log diary, “Having regular away fixtures has caused me to miss multiple lessons every week and afterschool training has limited time to catch up on homework”.

Finally, the primary researcher observed a lack of collaboration with external sports schedules. For example, based on her observations, the primary researcher reflected:

“Given that match play required a longer period of recovery than training, the school coach on Thursday often incorporated recovery sessions. However, unaware of the school match the previous day, one student athlete’s club team continued with an unmodified training session, including one to two hours of technical training on a Thursday night. As a result, negating the benefits of the recovery sessions within the school. The student athlete returned to school training on Friday, 24 h after the match, with the school coach presuming the fatigue from the match had largely dissipated. From chatting to the student athlete, they stated that they did not actually have the chance to recover from the match on Wednesday and entered the weekend fixtures feeling fatigued, which he believed compromised his performance”. [Field Note, 17/02/2022]

3.3.5 Lack of Coordination and Program Flexibility Between Academic and Sports Timetables

Although academic support services were available and some academic staff provided extra academic support and understanding for the student athletes when needed, there appeared to be a need for more understanding from all teachers. For example, in a conversation with two athletes, they stated:

Student athlete 1: “If you miss a lesson, then they just send you the work and expect you to do it yourself”.

Student athlete 2: “Sometimes I don't think my academic teachers understand. They are like ‘again, really’. I am like; it doesn’t change just because I did it last week”.

Moreover, although there appeared to be flexibility with physical training and support from the coaches around periods of high academic stress, there was a lack of planning, co-operation and compromise with scheduling, with sports fixtures clashing with periods of high academic stress (apart from in term 6). For example, as highlighted in Sect.  3.1.1 student athletes described a constant oscillation between periods of high academic stress and periods of high sport workload with them often coinciding, resulting in increased stress and pressure (as depicted in Fig.  2 which summarises the general patterns observed in the student athletes’ timeline diagrams/illustrations).

“I think my timetable doesn’t match up. So that means I get assessments and work I miss because I go to matches, and then I am still going to the gym and stuff like that. So, it feels like there is no compromise, and when it comes to assessments, I still feel like I need to do the match”.

Overview of oscillations in academic stress and sport workload across the school year

Despite academic flexibility/support by some coaches and teachers, due to the conflicts between academic and sport schedules, student athletes often felt conflicted, pressured and guilty towards both coaches and teachers if they chose one endeavour more than the other and were often reminded of it. “[Coach] will mention past things you have done. Like, yeah, but you didn't come to this one either, and you didn't come to this one, and now you are missing this one. So yeah, like the build-up of guilt”. Additionally, there seemed to be a lack of understanding and a conflict between what is a priority for student athletes regarding internal and external training, with student athletes feeling scared to come forward if they were tired.

“I feel like if I said to [coach], I can’t train as well on Wednesday as I was training for [club] on Tuesday. Then he would like to quit [club]. And I don’t want to quit it. But I don’t think I could come forward and say I was tired because I trained last night. As he would say that I am disrupting [school sport]. You are here to play [school sport]”.

There was little evidence of direct communication and alignment between sport coaches and teachers, where they worked together to ensure that their schedules were appropriately adjusted and aligned to the student’s academic (deadlines and submissions) and sport (tournaments and cup competitions) load. Instead, student athletes explained that they were the ‘middle ground’ for communication between coaches and teachers.

“I think the only thing that is hard about it is communication between your teachers and the coaches as well. As obviously, the teachers will have their say and be like, ‘You do too many matches’”.

Finally, student athletes at ‘Nunwick High’ had varying academic demands, extra-curricular activities and sporting commitments. Moreover, the performance sport teams’ schedules varied weekly (e.g. a team may compete in three competitions 1 week and no competitions the following week). Despite this, there appeared to be an overall ‘one size fits all’ approach to the overall planning, with a lack of adaptation to individual student athletes’ varying commitments and between-week team schedules, causing further competing demands and stress.

“Yeah. I think when we had gym and dance. That was sort of like a commitment. [Coach] would know we would have it after school but still expect me to go 100%, even though the night before we would have had a full run-through and everything went wrong and duh duh duh, school production itself. So it is sort of, I understand you have all this other stuff, but it doesn’t give you an excuse not to go 100% in training”.

4 Discussion

To our knowledge, this study is the first to longitudinally evaluate (1) the impact of sport-friendly school involvement on the holistic development (i.e. academic, athletic, psychosocial and psychological) of student athletes, (2) the holistic impact according to the specificity of student athlete characteristics (i.e. sex, boarding status and external sport involvement) and (3) the features and processes of the sport-friendly school programme that drive/facilitate positive and negative holistic impacts.

Overall, mixed-method data demonstrated that over-time student athletes, achieved good academic grades, enhanced their all-round sporting performance and developed personally, demonstrating positive short-term and potential long-term positive impacts of sport-friendly school involvement. In addition, student athletes’ sport confidence, academic motivation, academic grades, general recovery, life skills, resilience and friends, family and free time scores remained stable and relatively high across the academic year. Potential features and processes of ‘Nunwick High’ that contributed to these positive impacts included: high-quality facilities, fixtures, training partners and coaching staff, high frequency and extra training, multi-disciplinary sport support staff (e.g. SC, physiotherapist and nutritionist), academic support services, and self-reported motivation and hard work ethic to engage with training and academics. Despite these positive benefits, the simultaneous pursuit of academic and athletic achievements provided challenges for student athletes across an academic year. Potential negative impacts found included: increased stress and pressure at the beginning of the academic year, immediate accumulation of fatigue (both mentally and physically), competitive, organisational and personal stressors, high injury rates, potential body image concerns, conflicting demands and feeling “left to their own devices”. Furthermore, student athletes’ experienced significant fluctuations in their sport and academic workload, rest, academic lessons missed, sport-specific stress and recovery, sport competence and student-athletic motivation scores across the academic year. Many of the potential challenges/negative impacts student athletes experienced seemed to be attributed to a lack of (1) gradual increase in training exposure (intensity, frequency and volume) at the beginning of the academic year, (2) coordination and consideration between academic and sport timetables, (3) collaboration with external sport schedules, (4) direct communication and alignment between the coaches and teachers, (5) program flexibility and (6) periodised planning, tapering or deload scheduled within the sport timetable. However, it is worth noting that individual characteristics shaped the sport school experience and its impact on the holistic development of student athletes. Biological sex and external sport commitments were shown to influence student-athlete holistic impacts, however boarding status did not. Figure  3 summarises the longitudinal holistic impacts of sport-friendly school involvement, including the program’s features/processes driving positive and negative impacts.

Summary of the longitudinal holistic impacts of sport-friendly school involvement and the potential features and processes that drive/facilitate positive and negative holistic impacts

4.1 Longitudinal Investigation of Student Athlete Holistic Impacts

4.1.1 immediate and intermediate risk and challenges.

The student athletes faced numerous challenges at the onset of the academic year (e.g. high physical training loads, frequent sport fixtures and psychosocial adjustments) aligned to existing research [ 8 ]. Longitudinal data suggested these continued throughout the academic year. The workload challenges are similar to previous research in sport schools [ 80 , 81 , 82 ] and youth sport [ 12 , 83 ] but providing sport and academic load simultaneously emphasises the challenge of combining student athletes workload with external sporting commitments. These workload challenges potentially contribute to various other impacts experienced by student athletes, such as increased rates of missed academic lessons, heightened susceptibility to injuries, and the ongoing struggle to effectively balance their athletic commitments with academic responsibilities. Consequently, this confluence of demands often results in elevated levels of fatigue, persistent feelings of tiredness, and heightened stress among student athletes. This explanation is plausible given previous literature (e.g., [ 84 ] and [ 85 ]) has emphasised that the time commitments associated with combining education alongside sports training were a crucial contributor to fatigue accumulation and stress.

The longitudinal data highlights, student athletes’ need to negotiate many fluctuating academic and sport demands and expectations across a school year, which are often conflicting [ 84 , 86 , 87 ]. In parallel, student athletes seemed to find the sport–academic balance easier when they had increased rest and reduced training/competitions. These findings are unsurprising, as fewer competing demands exist. Previous research similarly demonstrates that the commitment (i.e. time and effort) to sport coincide with youth athletes’ education [ 21 ] and competitions/training, resulting in youth athletes missing school for several days or even weeks/months a year [ 88 ], making balancing both sport and education challenging [ 9 , 10 , 11 ].

Finally, the qualitative data reveal a consistent cycle between periods of high academic stress, such as assessment times and exams, and periods of intense sports workload, such as busy fixture lists and major tournaments. These overlapping demands potentially contribute to three main categories of stress: competitive stress due to game schedules, organizational stress from balancing school and sports, and personal stress involving social sacrifices. This pattern is supported by the correlation between changes in student athletes’ training loads and their sport-specific stress levels throughout the academic year. Competitive, organisation and personal stressors are supported by Kristiansen and Stensrud’s [ 85 ] study, which found evidence of all three stressors among youth female handball sport school athletes.

4.1.2 Long-Term Positive Impact

This study suggests that despite the challenges (e.g. balancing both sporting and academic commitments) student athletes within sport schools can excel in both sport and academics. Student athletes maintained stable and high academic grades throughout the year, supported by the qualitative data. These findings are congruent with broader youth sport research, which has indicated that student athletes excel in education (e.g., [ 89 ]). However, these findings contradict previous sports school literature [ 81 , 90 ], which suggested that sport participation negatively affected student athletes’ academic success.

Regarding athletic impacts, physical fitness data also demonstrated enhanced strength, speed and power. These results align with Beckmann et al. [ 91 ] study, showing increased fitness measures in student athletes enrolled in a sport school over 5 years. While the student athletes’ sport competence scores dipped compared with baseline throughout the academic year, qualitative findings demonstrated that student athletes felt they became better athletes (technical, tactically and physically). These findings may be explained by student athletes perceiving themselves as getting better but also had enhanced (different) perceptions and judgment as to where their own skills lay in comparison to others. Over time, student athletes may enhance their capacity for self-reflection and the evaluation of their abilities in comparison to others (i.e. their self-evaluation becomes increasingly more accurate but also more negative [ 92 ]), which could influence the self-perceived ratings of their own sport competence.

Finally, although student athletes’ psychosocial scores did not improve across the school year, they were relatively high at baseline and remained stable. Qualitative data highlighted the development of life skills and attitudes applicable in and beyond sport, reinforcing this trend. Previous sport school literature [ 82 , 93 , 94 ] supports the idea that sport school involvement fosters qualities and skills applicable to various aspects of life. Furthermore, overall LSSS scores were similar to that of British youth sport [ 95 ] and sport high school [ 96 ] student athletes. As such, sport-friendly schools should continue to develop student athletes technical, tactical, physical and academic capabilities but additionally develop their personal, social and life skill capabilities [ 97 ], to ensure student athletes develop transferable skills for life beyond the sport-friendly school environment [ 98 ].

4.2 Specificity of Athlete Characteristics

Sex and external sport commitments were shown to influence student athlete holistic impacts, however boarding status did not. In accordance with O’Connor et al. [ 99 ], females demonstrated lower levels of sport confidence and perceived competence compared with males, along with higher general stress, lower general recovery and greater body image concerns. Literature suggests that youth athletes, particularly females, are becoming concerned about their body image at increasingly early ages [ 100 ] and body-related shame and guilt are increasing over time among female youth athletes [ 101 ]. Looking at the inter-relationship between variables, previous research has found a significant relationship between body image and sport-related variables (e.g. sport confidence [ 102 ]). Furthermore, Murray et al.’s [ 103 ] study found a significant association between higher body dissatisfaction and higher ratings of peer stress and lower self-esteem. Given the potential heightened vulnerability in females, further research should explore the holistic development of female student athletes in sport schools.

Student athletes (such as those at ‘Nunwick High’) often participate in multiple sport or for various teams within the same sport [ 33 , 104 ]. External sport involvement increased student athletes’ time commitments (more training hours and competitions and less rest), intensifying the competing demands between academic and athletic pursuits. The additional demands link with lower general recovery scores for external sport student athletes. Research demonstrates that student athletes with higher weekly training loads have higher recovery-stress states than student athletes with lower weekly loads [ 105 ]. Furthermore, the qualitative data highlighted further fatigue and recovery challenges amongst this group, exacerbated by unsynchronized schedules between external and internal sport commitments. Previous research supports this conclusion, which demonstrates the ‘tug of war’ scenario of various weekly sport commitments, which can result from separate and contrasting athlete-focused training plans and goals [ 33 , 104 ]. Collaborative management of training schedules among the various stakeholders (i.e. coaches) is crucial to prevent fatigue, overreaching and injury risks among this specific group [ 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 ], requiring aligned training aims, load management, fixture lists and flexible programming [ 33 ].

4.3 Features and Processes of the Sport-Friendly School Program

As DC environments are complex and dynamic, whereby student athletes have to interact with many features and processes of a sport school, this study aims to advance on existing research to understand what facilitated and drove the positive and negative impacts. This approach was a unique and novel aspect of this study resulting in five key findings as discussed below.

4.3.1 Importance of Personal Motivation, Value of Education and Academic Support Services

One clear positive impact was that student athletes’ academic performance was high and stable consistent with previous research [ 89 , 110 ]. These findings may be explained by the student athletes displaying stable and relatively high levels of academic motivation across the school year and personal attributes aligned to academic work (e.g. hard work, organisation skills and commitment). Research (e.g. [ 111 ]) supports the associations between individual traits (e.g. AM, educational goals and commitment) and academic achievement demonstrating that student athletes’ academic motivation is important to achieving academic success. Furthermore, academic performance may reflect the importance of the additional support offered by sport schools (e.g. extra tutoring, revision clinics and consistent check-ups from academic and sport staff) in protecting academic success [ 8 ]. Mentorship, monitoring and extra tutoring were some of the academic support services provided at ‘Nunwick High’, which are consistent with previous sport school literature [ 7 , 8 , 93 , 112 , 113 ] and recognised as essential for encouraging academic success [ 114 ]. Finally, coach support (e.g. flexibility with sport training and support around the periods of high academic stress) was highlighted to assist student athletes academic development. This result is similar to Knight and colleagues [ 115 ], who underscored the need for an athlete’s support network to consistently reinforce the importance of education and the value of maintaining a DC. Ensuring the support staff are on the same page and everyone’s expectations are aligned, eases tensions within the group and prevents the student athletes from feeling conflicted [ 115 ].

4.3.2 Performance Sport Program with Direct Sport-Related Practices, Staff and Support Services

The current study provides additional evidence of Thompson et al. [ 15 ] cross-sectional study, demonstrating that student athletes will improve their all-round sport performance across an academic year and this change may be facilitated by a multi-disciplinary sport staff, high quality facilities, fixtures, training partners and coaching staff, high frequency of training, individualised support and a positive team culture. High-quality coaches and multi-disciplinary teams (e.g. SC coaches, sports psychologists, nutritionists and physiotherapists) are raised in the wider literature as aiding talent development [ 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 ]. Accordingly, it seems plausible that sport-friendly school programmes should employ high-quality coaches and support sport staff to provide high-quality training programmes and sessions. However, whilst this study demonstrates the value of high-quality coaches and support staff, future research should explore how coaches achieved performance education and development in practice. Having high-level fixtures and training partners is supported by Henriksen’s research [ 120 ], which supports a culture where you foster competition between members of the same institution and challenge them externally. However, although frequent and additional training opportunities were deemed a positive in this study, future research should explore the workload of the sport-friendly school student athletes objectively and their subsequent correlation with rest, recovery and injury.

4.3.3 Lack of Organisation and Planning of Training Load

Student athletes at ‘Nunwick High’ attributed their initial hard transition partly to inadequate physical preparation. Likewise, student athletes in Andersson and Barker-Ruchti’s [ 80 ] study attributed the initial stress they experienced due to the lower level of physical training that had taken place in their previous club communities. ‘Nunwick High’ student athletes faced an immediate, intense training load (with no preseason), possibly contributing to a high November/December (T2) injury rate. Similar findings in prior research (e.g. [ 121 ]) noted increased injuries after school holidays (e.g. summer). These findings suggest that more careful consideration of return to training planning and monitoring of appropriate training loads may be warranted [ 122 , 123 ]. From a fatigue, illness and injury prevention perspective, student athletes (particularly those new to a performance sport program) may benefit from a gradual, sequential increase in intensity, frequency, and volume early in the academic year. Furthermore, student athletes may benefit from support to help them prepare for and cope with the challenges and changes of moving into or transitioning through the sport-friendly school environment [ 81 , 85 ].

A recurring ‘tiredness’ theme emerged among ‘Nunwick High’ student athletes, with subsequent mental and physical fatigue accumulation. Across an academic term, ‘Nunwick High’ lacked planned deloading or periodization, with no systematic high-to-low load transitions to facilitate recovery [ 104 ]. As such, the issue may not be the overall load buts its organisation and lack of external sport workload coordination [ 104 ]. Scantlebury et al. [ 33 ] highlighted that a failure to provide appropriate periods of recovery between training sessions and within programmes could lead to lowered training capacity [ 124 , 125 ] or increased incidence of injury, illness and overtraining [ 126 , 127 , 128 ]. Furthermore, the lack of periodised planning may explain the fact that ~ 30% of student athletes had sustained an injury. To provide a sufficient stimulus for progressive overload, student athletes need be exposed to periods of high training volume and/or intensity [ 2 , 129 ], reflected in the increase in physical fitness testing data. However, recovery must be implemented after periods of intensified or voluminous training to allow the athlete to dissipate fatigue, adapt and avoid maladaptive responses such as overuse injury [ 108 ]. Accordingly, in sport schools, planned high-load/low-load periods are crucial to facilitate recovery and adaptations [ 33 , including periodised tapering or deload weeks aligned with high academic stress periods (e.g. assessments or mock exams).

4.3.4 Lack of Coordination and Program Flexibility Between Academic and Sport Timetables

Competing demands can be stressful when activities across the school timetable are insufficiently coordinated [ 85 ]. ‘Nunwick High’ lacked coordination between academic and sport timetables (e.g. fixtures scheduled throughout high academic stress periods, where student athletes missed lessons). Although some academic staff offered extra support and coaches were somewhat flexible and supportive (although may subconsciously emphasise sport within their communication with student athletes), better program planning, communication and alignment between coaches and teachers are needed. Previous research has highlighted that flexibility and planning are key to managing student athletes’ schedules [ 33 ] and alignment between coaches and teachers is crucial [ 84 ]. Consequently, coaches and teachers should adopt an athlete-centred approach, coordinating to recognise periods of high academic stress (e.g. exams and coursework deadlines) and high sport workload (e.g. competitions, finals) before adjusting schedules to ensure student athletes can manage both demands [ 33 ]. However, this may be more difficult for some sport (e.g. summer sport, such as cricket), where timetable clashes may be unavoidable. Previous research supports such integrated efforts as critical features of successful talent development environments [ 20 , 115 ], alleviating tensions and helping prevent dual career demands conflict [ 115 ].

It appeared hard for practitioners within ‘Nunwick High’ to plan effective training loads, efficient recovery and sufficient academic time due to the ‘individualised chaos’ within and between studentathletes varying weekly schedules [ 130 ]. Qualitative and quantitative (95% CI) data confirmed this variability. The challenges of within and between youth-athlete variance in weekly training load has been previously shown [ 33 , 131 ]. Individual needs differ based on sport, academic path and circumstances [ 132 ]. Consequently, in addition to program flexibility, sport-friendly schools may consider monitoring sport school student athletes’ varying weekly schedules, coaches/teachers should monitor student athletes’ physical and academic loads (e.g. training/work diaries), wellness (e.g. daily wellness questionnaire [ 133 ], the profile of mood states questionnaire for adolescents [ 134 ]) and recovery states (e.g. perceived recovery scale [ 135 ]) on an individual basis.

4.3.5 Because the Environment Demanded It

A clear positive impact was that student athletes’ developed life skills and attitudes applicable in and beyond sport. The requirement to take accountability and responsibility, live away from home and balance the busy schedule of sport and academics enabled student athletes to manage themselves effectively (i.e. become better at managing multiple demands) and be disciplined. However, it is also important to acknowledge the skills required to negotiate these challenges (e.g. psychological characteristics and competencies [ 136 ]). As such, there appeared to be a need for upskilling to allow student athletes to maximise their development earlier, particularly when managing their time effectively. Collins and Macnamara [ 136 ] proposed that skills development in an appropriately challenging environment is a big factor in the pursuit of ‘super-champ’ status. As such, sport-friendly schools may consider educating the student athletes with essential skills that would aid the challenges they face during their time at the sport school (e.g. time-management skills, developing coping strategies, a programme focused on understanding the most efficient way to maximise their learning) to allow them to exploit their development by understanding the most efficient way to maximize their learning and balance the issues arising from their restricted time schedules [ 33 , 86 ].

4.4 Balance Between Optimising Experience and Appropriate Challenge

It is worth noting that while student athletes encountered many challenges throughout the school year (e.g. oscillations in stress and demanding schedules), longer-term they reported largely positive impacts, potentially preparing them for the multiple demands of being a professional athlete or adult in the future. Research emphasises the value of incorporating challenges into talent development pathways (e.g., [ 137 ] and [ 138 ]). Overcoming challenges is increasingly seen as favourable for aspiring student athletes [ 137 , 138 ] but developing skills to navigate these challenges (e.g. psychological characteristics and competencies) should be planned and managed too. As such, while helping manage some of the physical overloading and scheduling (e.g. to prevent harm through injury, stress and emotional/physical fatigue), helping coaches understand progressive tolerance to the stresses experienced and upskilling student athletes is clearly warranted, there may be a need for some of these challenges to develop long-term positive holistic impacts (i.e. where the immediate/short term negative impacts could have medium-longer term positive impacts). So, while potential recommendations within this study may help optimise the experience, they should be carefully considered regarding their impact on the student athletes’ development in other areas (e.g. resilience, independence and self-motivation). Consequently, future research needs to explore what short-term impacts and processes are needed for long-term positive impacts.

5 Limitations and Future Research

Although the longitudinal design, mixed methods approach (triangulation), and generalised mixed modelling analysis are key strengths, it is also important to be aware of the study’s limitations. Some would argue that due to the first-hand experiences of the primary author, they already had their preconceived ideas, potentially narrowing the analytic lens of the study. However, the quantitative statistical analysis alongside the use of critical friends and frequent peer-debriefing and reflection sessions among co-authors, to minimise any potential biases [ 69 ]. Self-reported measures introduce another limitation, including the potential influence of social desirability. Moreover, different questionnaires were necessary to capture diverse impacts, potentially impacting response quality due to the questionnaire’s length [ 139 ]. However, the questionnaire was conducted in a quiet room, student athletes were allowed sufficient breaks when required and were allowed to return to the questionnaire at a later time within the same day. Furthermore, while participant concerns might not have been openly expressed in front of an institution member, the primary author's rapport with student athletes and staff fostered positive interactions, emphasising confidentiality and encouraging open, honest responses. Finally, in the academic year, term 6 was only 3 weeks long, and most upper-sixth student athletes had already left after final exams, leading to the decision to omit the online questionnaire during this term. Despite this, observational research covered the full 33 weeks, with the timeline diagram conducted at the study’s conclusion, though the lack of log diary assessment in terms 5 and 6 is a limitation.

While this study offers an initial insight into sport–school student athletes’ holistic impacts and trajectories, future research could explore this further using longitudinal methods, such as Cobley et al. [ 140 ], tracking the comprehensive development of select youth players and employing different statistical techniques such as multivariate latent growth models (e.g. [ 141 ]). Moreover, while this study provides an initial insight into how individual characteristics shape the sport school experience and its impact on the holistic development of youth athletes, further research is needed to gain a more in-depth understanding. For example, exploring additional individual characteristics like sport-by-sport analysis, age, injury status and training cycles could further enrich understanding. Finally, while preliminary discussions about potential correlations between impacts were included (e.g. academic attainment and AM), these relationships lack statistical exploration, necessitating further modelling and investigation of direct impact relationships.

6 Conclusions

Overall, ‘Nunwick High’ student athletes developed positive long-term holistic impacts (i.e. academically, athletically and personally), including maintaining stable and relatively high levels of sport confidence, academic motivation, general recovery, life skills, resilience and friends, family and free time scores. Development was generally attributed to the sport school’s athletic and academic support services and personal traits of the student athletes and staff. Moreover, accountability, responsibility, independence and navigating busy schedules fostered crucial life skills. Despite positive impacts, juggling academic and sport workload posed challenges for student athletes, potentially leading to negative holistic impacts (e.g. fatigue, pressure, stress, injury and lessons missed). These issues were linked to insufficient training load build-up, communication, coordination, flexibility and planning. While addressing physical overloading and coach understanding is important, future research should evaluate other environments and explore what short-term impacts are needed for long-term positive impacts.

Additionally, individual characteristics (e.g. biological sex) influenced sport school impact. Females had lower sport confidence, higher general stress and body image concerns and less general recovery compared with males. This vulnerability warrants detailed research on female student athletes. Furthermore, engagement in external sport introduces additional time and workload commitments, prompting sport schools to collaborate with broader sporting partners to harmonise student athletes’ training schedules and create coordinated athlete-focused training plans and goals. In summary, these findings demonstrate the complex nature of combining education and sport commitments and how sport schools should manage, monitor and evaluate the features of their programme to maximise the holistic impacts of sport–school student athletes.

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Approval was obtained (29/07/2021) from the ethics committee of Leeds Beckett University (Ref. 86728). The study was performed in accordance with the standards of ethics outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

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The authors (Ffion Thompson, Fieke Rongen, Ian Cowburn, and Kevin Till) all declared no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, the content, authorship, and/or publication of the review.

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The first author, FT, collected the data and was the lead on the analysis and writing. FR, IC and KT contributed to the conception and design of the study, drafting and critically revising the manuscript, and approval for publication. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Thompson, F., Rongen, F., Cowburn, I. et al. A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Case Study Investigation of the Academic, Athletic, Psychosocial and Psychological Impacts of Being of a Sport School Student Athlete. Sports Med (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-024-02021-4

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Published : 18 April 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-024-02021-4

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